HARPER'S  CLASSICAL  LIBRARY. 


SALLUST,    FLORTJS, 

* 

AND    VELLEIUS    PATERCULUS. 

TRANSLATED   LITERALLY. 


OF 

£.  ROGERS 


S  A  L  L  U  S  T, 

FL  0  R  TJ  S, 

»  ' 

AND 

VELLEIUS   PATERCULTJS, 


LITERALLY   TRANSLATED, 
WITH    COPIOUS    NOTES    AND    A    GENERAL   INDEX. 


REV.  JOHN  SELBY  WATSON,  M.A., 

HBAD  MASTER  OF  THE  PBOFBIETABT  GBAMMAB  SCHOOL,   8TOCKWEL1., 


NEW    YORK: 
HARPER     &    BROTHERS, 

839   &   381    PEARL   STREET. 

1888. 


HARPER'S 

NEW    CLASSICAL    LIBRARY. 


conr 


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PREFACE. 


IN  this  volume  are  presented  English  Translations 
of  the  three  Roman  Historians,  Sallust,  Florus,  and 
Velleius  Paterculus. 

"  SALLUST,"  an  eminent  scholar  once  remarked  to 
me,  "  it  is  more  easy  to  dilute  than  to  transmute."  It 
is  hoped  that  in  the  following  pages  the  reader  will 
find  Sallust's  Latin  transmuted  into  English  without 
any  unnecessary  dilution. 

Some  minor  liberties  have  been  taken  with  his  ex- 
pressions, in  order  to  avoid  stiffness,  and  to  represent 
the  author  fairly  in  an  English  dress  ;  but  none  incon- 
sistent with  a  faithful  adherence  to  his  sense. 

On  all  difficult  or  disputed  passages,  the  commenta- 
tors have  been  carefully  consulted.  References  have 
been  given  in  the  notes,  wherever  they  appeared  neces- 
sary, as  well  to  the  older  critics,  of  whom  Cortius  is 
the  chief,  as  to  the  more  recent,  among  whom  the  prin- 
cipal are  Gerlach,  Kritz,  and  Dietsch. 

All  the  Fragments  of  Sallust  that  can  be  of  any  in- 
terest to  the  English  reader,  have  been  translated  ; 
and  that  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  render  the  work 
complete,  versions  of  the  spurious  Epistles  to  Caesar, 


vi  PREFACE. 

which  present  a  good  imitation  of  Sallust's  style,  and 
of  the  Declamations  which  pass  under  the  names  of 
Sallust  and  Cicero,  have  been  added. 

The  text  at  first  intended  to  be  followed  was  that  of 
Cortius  ;  but  the  readings  given  by  later  critics  ap- 
peared often  so  much  better,  that  they  were  adopted 
in  preference  ;  indeed,  the  present  version  approaches 
nearer  to  the  text  of  Kritz  than  to  that  of  any  other 
editor. 

FLORUS,  whose  work  has  come  down  to  us  entire,  is 
rendered  with  similar  care  and  fidelity.  The  text 
chiefly  followed  is  that  of  Duker. 

What  remains  of  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS,  with  whom 
time  has  dealt  hardly,  had  been  so  well  translated,  in 
many  places,  by  Baker,  that  much  of  his  phraseology 
has  been  adopted  in  the  present  version.  The  text 
followed  is  that  of  Krause,  whose  corrections  and  com- 
ments, had  they  appeared  earlier,  might  have  saved 
Baker  from  the  commission  of  some  extraordinary  blun- 
ders. 

j.  a  w. 


CONTENTS. 


PA.QB 

BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OF  SALLUST 9 

BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OP  FLORUS 18 

BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OP  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS  .        .        .        .21 

SALLUST: 

CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE 1 

CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE  .        .        .        75 

THE  JDGURTHINE  WAR 78 

CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR    ....      201 

FRAGMENTS 206 

Two  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  C.ESAR,  ON  THE   GOVERNMENT  OF  THE 

STATE 238 

PSEUDO-SALLUST'S  DECLAMATION  AGAINST  CICERO  ....  263 
PSEUDO-CICERO'S  DECLAMATION  AGAINST  SALLUST       .        .        .      267 

FLORUS: 

BOOK  L 276 

BOOK  II 302 

BOOK  III 335 

BOOK  IV 373 

YELLEIUS  PATERCULUS  : 

BOOK  1 407 

BOOK  II .      424 

INDEX     .  .  .523 


BIOGRAPHICAL   NOTICE   OF   SALLUST. 


SALLTTST  was  born  at  Amiternum,  a  town  in  the  Sabine  territory, 
on  the  first  of  October,1  in  the  year  six  hundred  and  sixty-six*  from 
the  foundation  of  Rome,  eighty-seven  years  before  Christ,  and  in 
the  seventh  consulship  of  Marius. 

The  name  of  his  father  was  Cains  Sallustius;8  that  of  his  mother 
is  unknown.  His  family  was  thought  by  Crinitus,  and  some  others, 
to  have  been  patrician,  but  by  Gerlach,  and  most  of  the  later  critics, 
is  pronounced  to  have  been  plebeian,  because  he  held  the  office 
of  tribune  of  the  people,  because  he  makes  observations  unfavor- 
able to  the  nobility  in  his  writings,  and  because  his  grandson,  ac- 
cording to  Tacitus,4  was  only  of  equestrian  rank. 

The  ingenuity  of  criticism  has  been  exercised  in  determining 
whether  his  name  should  be  written  with  a  double  or  single  I. 
Jerome  Wolfius,5  and  Gerlach,  are  in  favor  of  the  single  letter,  de- 
pending chiefly  on  inscriptions,  and  on  the  presumption  that  the 
name  is  derived  from  salusorsal.  But  inscriptions  vary;  the  ety- 
mology of  the  word  is  uncertain ;  and  to  derive  it  from  sal  would 
authorize  either  mode  of  spelling.  All  the  Latin  authors,  both  in 
prose  and  poetry,  have  the  name  with  the  double  letter,  and  it 
seems  better,  as  Vossius*  remarks,  to  adhere  to  their  practice. 
Among  the  Greeks,  Dion  and  Eusebius  have  the  single  letter;  in 
some  other  writers  it  is  found  doubled. 

Another  question   raised   respecting  his  name,  is  whether  he 

»  Euseb.  Chron.  *  Clinton,  Fast.  Rom. 

»  De  Brosses,  Vie  de  Sail.,  §  2 ;    Glandorp.  Onomast. 

«  Ann.,  ill.  30.  *  Apud  Voss.  •  Vit.  Sail. 


x  BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OP  SALLUST. 

should  be  called  Sallustius  Crispus  or  Crispus  Sallustius.  The 
latter  mode  is  adopted  by  Le  Clerc,  Cortius,  Havercamp,  and  some 
other  critics ;  but  De  Brosses'  argues  conclusively  in  favor  of  the 
former  method;  as  Sallustius,  from  its  termination,  is  evidently 
the  name  of  the  famity  or  gens ;  and  Crispus,  which  denotes 
quelque  habitude  du  corps,  only  a  surname  to  distinguish  one  of 
its  branches.  Crispus  Sallustius  is  found,  indeed,  in  manuscripts; 
and,  according  to  Cortius,  in  the  best ;  but  on  what  reasonable 
grounds  can  it  be  justified  ?  It  was  perhaps  adopted  by  some 
copyist  from  the  ode  of  Horace8  addressed  to  Sallust's  nephew, 
and  inconsiderately  continued  by  his  successors. 

He  was  removed  early  in  life  to  Eome,  that  he  might  be  edu- 
cated under  Atteius  Prastextatus,  a  celebrated  grammarian  of  that 
age,  who  styled  himself  Philologus,  and  who  was  afterward 
tutor  to  Asinius  Pollio.9  Atteius  treated  Sallust  with  very  great 
distinction.10 

He  may  be  supposed  to  have  soon  grown  conscious  of  his 
powers ;"  and  appears  at  an  early  period  of  his  life  to  have  de- 
voted himself  to  study,  with  an  intention  to  distinguish  himself  in 
history.18 

His  devotion  to  literature,  however,  was  not  so  great  as  to  de- 
tain him  from  indulgence  in  pleasure ;  for  he  became,  if  we  allow 
any  credit  to  the  old  declaimer,  infamous,  cetatis  tirocinia,  for  de- 
bauchery and  extravagance.  He  took  possession  of  his  father's 
house  in  his  father's  lifetime,  and  sold  it;  an  act  by  which  he 
brought  his  father  to  the  grave  ;  and  he  was  twice,  for  some  mis- 
conduct, arraigned  before  the  magistrates,  and  escaped  on  both 
occasions  only  through  the  perjury  of  his  judges.13 

When  we  cite  this  rhetorician,  we  must  not  forget  that  we  cite 
an  anonymous  re  viler,  yet  we  must  suppose  with  Gerlach,  and 
with  Meisner,  the  German  translator  of  Sallust,  that  we  quote  a 
t  writer  who  grounded  his  invectives  on  reports  and  opinions  cur- 
rent at  the  time  in  which  he  lived. 

Sallust  next  thought  of  aspiring  to  political  distinction;14  but 

i  Vie  de  Sail.,  §  1.  8  Od.,  ii.  2,  3. 

•  Suet,  de  111.  Gramm.,  c.  10.  10  Ibid. 

»  Pseudo-Sail.  Ep.  to  Cses.,  i.  10.  "  Cat.,  c.  4. 

»  Paeudo-Cic.  in  Sail.,  c.  5.  «  Cat.,  c.  8. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OF  SALLUST.  xi 

"the  usual  method  of  attaining  notice,"  says  De  Brosses,15  "  which 
was  to  secure  friends  and  clients  by  pleading  the  causes  of  indi- 
viduals at  the  bar,  he  seems  not  to  have  adopted ;"  since,  as  is 
known,  no  orations  spoken  by  him  are  in  existence,  and,  as 
is  thought,  no  mention  is  made  of  such  orations  in  any  other 
author. 

Mention,  however,  is  made  of  orations  of  Sallust,  at  whatever 
time  delivered,  in  the  well-known  passage  of  Seneca  the  rhetor- 
ician.1' "When  Seneca  inquired  of  Cassins  Severus,  why  he,  who 
was  so  eminent  in  pleading  important  causes,  displayed  so  little 
talent  in  pronouncing  fictitious  declamations,  the  orator  replied, 
Quod  in  me  miraris,  pene  omnibus  evenit,  etc.  Orationes  /Sallustii 
in  honorem  historiarum  leguntur.  "  What  you  think  extraordin- 
ary in  me,  is  common  to  all  men  of  ability.  The  greatest  geniuses, 
to  whom  I  am  conscious,  of  my  great  inferiority,  have  generally 
excelled  only  in  one  species  of  composition.  The  felicity  of  Vir- 
gil in  poetry  deserted  him  in  prose ;  the  eloquence  of  Cicero's 
orations  is  not  to  be  found  in  his  verses ;  and  the  speeches  of  Sal- 
lust  are  read  only  as  a  foil  to  his  histories."  The  speeches  which 
are  here  meant,  are  not,  as  has  been  generally  imagined,  those  in- 
serted in  the  histories,  but  others,  which  Sallust  had  spoken.  This 
view  of  the  passage  was  first  taken  by  Antonius  Augustinus,  and 
communicated  by  him  to  Schottus,  who  mentioned  it  in  his  anno- 
tations on  Seneca.17 

But  by  whatever  means  he  secured  support,  he  had  at  length 
sufficient  interest  to  obtain  a  quaestorship  ;18  the  tenure  of  which 
gave  him  admission  into  the  senate.  It  would  appear  that  he  was 
about  thirty-one  years  of  age  when  he  attained  this  honor.19 

It  must  have  been  about  this  period  that  his  adventure  with 
Fausta,  the  daughter  of  Sylla  and  wife  of  Milo,  occurred,  of  which 
a  short  account  is  given  by  Aulus  Gellius20  in  an  extract  from 
Varro.  The  English  reader  may  take  it  in  the  version  of  Beloe  : 
"Marcus  Varro,  a  man  of  great  authority  and  weight  in  his 
writings  and  life,  in  his  publication  entitled  'Pius,'  or  'De  Pace,' 

"  Vie  de  Sail.,  c.  3. 

"  Prsef.  in  Controv.,  1.  iii.,  p.  231,  ed.  Par.  1607. 

"  P.  234,  ed.  Par.  1607.  18  Pseudo-Cic.,  in  Sail.,  c.  5. 

19  Adam's  Rom.  Antiquities,  p.  4.        20  xvii.  18. 


xii  BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OF  SALLUST. 

records  that  Caius  Sallust,  the  author  of  that  grave  and  serious 
composition  (series  illius  et  severcs  oralionis),  in  which  he  has  ex- 
ercised the  severity  of  the  censorial  office,  in  taking  cognizance  of 
crimes,  being  taken  by  Annaous  Milo  in  adultery,  was  well  scourged, 
and,  after  paying  a  sum  of  money,  dismissed."  The  same  story  is 
told,  on  the  authority  of  Asconius  Pedianus  the  biographer  of 
Sallust,  by  Aero  and  Porphyrio,  the  scholiasts  on  Horace,  who, 
they  think,  had  it  in  his  mind  when  he  wrote  the  words,  Ille 
flagellis  ad  mortem  emus.™  Servius,  also,  in  his  note  on  Quique  ob 
adullerium  coesi,  in  the  sixth  book  of  the  ^Eneid,22  tells  a  like  tale, 
adding  that  Sallust  entered  the  house  in  the  habit  of  a  slave,  and 
was  caught  in  that  disguise  by  Milo. 

Such  being  the  case,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  when  Sallust  en- 
tered on  his  tribnneship  of  the  people,  to  which  lie  was  elected  in 
the  year  of  the  city  seven  hundred,  he  seized  an  opportunity  which 
occurred  of  being  revenged  on  Milo,  who  had  shortly  before  killed 
Clodius.  He  joined  with  his  colleagues,  Pompeius  Rufus  and. 
Plancus,  in  inflaming  the  populace,  and  charging  Milo  with  pre- 
meditated hostility.23  They  intimidated  Cicero,  Milo's  advocate, 
insinuating  that  he  had  planned  the  assassination  ;24  and  the  mat- 
ter ended  in  Milo's  banishment.25  During  the  progress  of  the 
trial,  however,  it  is  said  that  Sallust  abated  his  hostility  to  Milo 
and  Cicero,  and  even  became  friendly  with  them.28  How  this  re- 
conciliation was  effected,  does  not  appear;  but  it  seems  certain 
that  Cicero,  when  he  attacked  Plancus,  Sail  list's  colleague, 
for  exciting  the  populace  to  turbulence,  left  Sallust  himself  un- 
molested.27 

Unmolested,  however,  he  did  not  long  remain ;  for  in  the 
year  of  the  city  seven  hundred  and  four,  in  the  censorship  of 
Appius  Claudius  Pulcher,  and  Lucius  Calpurnius  Piso,  Appius, 
actuated  by  two  motives,  one  of  which  was  to  serve  Pompey,  by 
excluding  from  the  senate  such  as  were  hostile  to  him,28  and  the 
other  to  throw  into  the  shade  his  own  private  irregularities  by 

<»  Sat.,  i.  2,  41.  *>  Ver.  612. 

43  Ascon.  Pedian.  in  Cic.  Orat.  pro  Milo.,  c.  17 ;  Cic.  Mil.,  c.  5. 

u  Ascon.  Pedian.  in  Cic.  Mil.,  c.  18.    25  Dion.  Cap.,  lib.  xl. 

»«  Ascon.  Ped.  ubi  supra.  v  Ascon.  Ped.  in  Cic.  Mil.,  c.  85. 

*>  Dion.  Cap.,  xl.  63. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OF  SALLUST.  xiii 

an  ostentatious  discharge  of  his  public  duties,59  expelled  Sallust 
from  the  senate  on  pretence  that  he  was  a  flagrantly  immoral 
character.30 

But  Appius,  by  this  proceeding,  instead  of  serving  Pompey, 
served  Caesar ;  for  many  who  had  previously  been  favorable  to 
Pompey,  or  had  continued  neutral,  betook  themselves  immediately 
to  Caesar's  camp  ;  in  the  number  of  whom  was  Sallust.31 

His  attendance  on  Caesar  did  not  go  unrewarded ;  for  when 
Caesar  returned  from  Spain,  after  his  victory  over  Afranius  and 
Petreius,  he  restored  Sallust,  with  others  under  similar  circum- 
stances,33 to  his  seat  in  the  senate ;  and  as  it  was  not  usual  for  a 
senator,  who  had  been  degraded  from  his  rank,  to  be  reinstated 
in  it  without  being  at  the  same  time  elected  to  an  office,  he  was 
again  made  quaestor,33  or,  as  Dion  thinks,  praetor. 

He  was  then  intrusted  with  some  military  command,  and  sent 
into  Illyria,  where,  as  Orosius34  states,  he  was  one  of  those  that 
were  defeated  by  the  Pompeian  leaders  Octavius  and  Libo. 

Afterward,  when  the  war  in  Egypt  and  Asia  was  finished,  but 
while  the  remains  of  Pompey's  army,  headed  by  Scipio  and  Cato, 
were  still  menacing  hostilities  in  Africa,  Sallust,  with  the  title  of 
praator,  was  directed  to  conduct  against  them  a  body  of  troops 
from  Campania."  But  Sallust  was  intrusted  with  more  than  he 
was  able  to  perform.  The  soldiers  mutinied  on  the  coast,  com~ 
pelled  him  to  flee,  and  hurried  away  to  Rome,  putting  to  death 
two  senators  in  their  way.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Caesar 
humbled  them  by  addressing  them  as  Quirites  instead  of  com- 
militaries.™ 

Sallust  was  then  reinstated  in  command,  and  was  sent,  during 
the  African  war,  to  the  island  of  Cercina,  to  bring  off  a  quantity 
of  corn  that  had  been  deposited  there  by  the  enemy  ;  a  commis- 
sion which  he  successfully  executed.37 

"Whether  he  performed  any  other  service  for  Caesar  in  this 

29  Cic.  Ep.  ad  Fam.,  viii.  14.  ">  Dion.,  ib. 

»  Pseudo-Cic.  in  Sail.,  c.  6.    Gerlach,  Vit.  Sail.,  p.  7. 

w  Suet.  J.  Cses.,  c.  41.  »  Pseudo-Cic.,  c.  6,  8. 

54  Lib.,  vi.  15.    Gerlach,  Vit.  Sail.,  p.  7.  **  Dion.  Cass.,  xlii.  52. 

»  Dion.,  ib.    Appian.  B.  C.,  ii.  92.    Flat,  in  Csee.  Snet.  J.  Cas.,  c.  10. 

*>  Hirt.  B.  A.,  c.  8,  24. 


xiy  BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OF  SALLUST, 

war,  we  have  no  account;  but  Caasar,  when  it  was  ended, 
thought  him  a  person  of  such  consequence,  that  he  gave  him  the 
government  of  Numidia,  with  the  title  of  pro-consul.  "He  re- 
ceived the  province  from  Cassar,"  says  Dion,  "nominally  to 
govern  it,  but  in  reality  to  ravage  and  plunder  it."  Whether 
such  was  Caasar's  intention  or  not,  it  is  generally  believed 
that  he  enriched  himself  by  the  spoil  of  it  to  the  greatest  possible 
extent.38 

When  his  term  of  office,  which  seems  to  have  been  only  a  year, 
was  expired,  he  "  appeared  at  Rome,"  says  the  declaimer,  "  like  a 
man  enriched  in  a  dream."  But  the  Numidians  followed  him, 
and  accused  him  of  extortion  ;  a  charge  from  which  he  was  only 
acquitted  through  the  interposition  of  Caesar,3*  to  whom  he  is  said 
to  have  presented  a  bribe.40 

The  trial  had  not  been  long  concluded  when  Caasar  was  assassin- 
ated, and  Sallust,  being  thus  deprived  of  his  patron,  seems  to  have 
withdrawn  entirely  from  public  life.  He  purchased  a  large  tract 
of  ground  on  the  Quirinal  hill,  where  he  erected  a  splendid  man- 
sion, and  laid  out  those  magnificent  gardens  of  which  so  much  has 
been  related.  Their  extent  must  have  been  vast,  if  De  Brosses, 
who  visited  the  spot  in  1739,  obtained  any  just  notion  of  it.41  But 
some  have  thought  them  much  smaller.  He  had  also  a  country- 
house  at  Tibur,  which  had  belonged  to  Julius  Caesar." 

It  was  during  this  period  of  retirement,  as  is  supposed,  that  he 
married  Terentia,  the  divorced  wife  of  Cicero,  if,  indeed,  he  mar- 
ried her  at  all ;  for  their  union  rests  on  no  very  strong  testi- 
mony.43 

It  was  at  this  time,  too,  it  would  appear,  that  he  commenced  the 
composition  of  history,  with  a  view  to  the  perpetuation  of  his 
name ;  for  he  entered  on  it,  he  says,  when  his  mind  was  free  from 
"  hope,  fear,  or  political  partisanship  ;"44  and  to  no  other  time  of 
his  life  are  such  expressions  applicable.     Dion  seems  to  have  sup- 
's Dion.,  xliii.  9.    Pseudo-Cic.,  c.  7.  39  Dion.,  xliii.  9. 
40  Pseudo-Cic.,  c.  7.               41  De  Brosses,  (Euv.  de  Sail.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  363. 
«  Pseudo-Cic.,  c.  7. 

43  Hieronym.  adv.  Jovin.,  i.  48.    Gerlach,  vol.  ii.,  p.  8.    De  Brasses,  torn, 
iii.  p.  855.    Le  Clerc,  Vit.  Sail. 

44  Cat.,  c.  4. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OF  SALLUST.  Xv 

posed  that  he  appeared  as  a  historian  before  he  went  to  Nuinidia, 
bat  is  in  all  probability  mistaken. 

Sallust  died  on  the  thirteenth  of  May,  in  the  year  of  the  city 
seven  hundred  and  eighteen,  in  the  fifty-second  year  of  his  age,45 
leaving  his  grand-nephew,  Gains  Sallustius  Crispus,  whom  want  of 
children  had  induced  him  to  adopt,  heir  to  all  his  possessions.  Hia 
gardens,  some  years  after  his  death,  became  imperial  property." 

Such  were  the  events,  as  far  as  we  learn,  of  the  life  of  Sallust; 
and  such  is  the  notion  which  the  voice  of  antiquity  teaches  us  to 
form  of  his  moral  character.  In  modern  times,  some  attempts 
have  been  made  to  prove  that  he  was  less  vicious  than  he  was 
anciently  represented. 

Among  those  who  have  attempted  to  clear  him  of  the  charges 
usually  brought  against  him,  are  Miiller,47  Wieland,48  and  Roos ;49 
who  are  strenuously  opposed  by  Gerlach60  and  Loebell.51  Tho 
points  on  which  his  champions  chiefly  endeavor  to  defend  him, 
are  the  adventure  with  Fausta,  and  the  spoliation  of  Numidia. 
Of  the  three,  Miiller  is  the  most  enterprising.  With  regard  to  the 
affair  of  Fausta,  he  sets  himself  boldly  to  impugn  the  authority  of 
Varro  or  Gellius,  on  which  it  chiefly  rests ;  and  his  reasoning  is 
as  follows  :  That  such  writers  as  Gellius  are  not  always  to  be 
trusted ;  that  Gellius  often  quoted  from  memory ;  that  he  cites 
old  authors  on  the  testimony  of  later  authors ;  that  he  speaks  of 
Varro,  fide  homo  multa  et  gravis,  as  if  he  were  a  cotemporary 
that  needed  commendation,  not  the  well-known  Varro  whose 
character  was  established ;  that  the  Varro  of  Gellius  may  there- 
fore be  a  later  Varro,  whose  book,  "Pius,"  or  "De  Pace,"  may 
have  been  about  Antoninus  Pins,  under  whom  Gellius  lived,  and 
who  may  have  been  utterly  mistaken  in  what  he  said  of  Sallust ; 
and  that,  consequently,  the  passage  in  Gellius  is  to  be  suspected. 
Respecting  the  plunder  of  Numidia,  his  arguments  are,  that  the 

«  Enseb.  Chron.  Clinton,  Fasti. 

48  See  De  Brosses,  torn.  iii.  p.  368. 

«  C.  Sallustius  Crispus,  Leipzig,  1817.  48  Ad.  Hor.  Sat.,  i.  2,  48. 

49  Einige  Bemerk,  ub.  den  Moral  Char,  des  Sallust.    Prog.  Cfiessen.,  1T88, 
4to.    See  Frotscher's  note  on  Le  Clerc's  Life  of  Sail.,  intt. 

*°  Vit.  Sail.,  p.  9,  seq. 

«  Zur  Beurtboilung  des  Sail.,  Breslau,  1818. 


xvi  BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OF  SALLUST. 

province  was  given  to  Sallnst  to  spoil,  not  for  himself,  but  for 
Caesar ;  that  of  the  money  obtained  from  it,  the  chief  part  was 
given  to  Caesar;  and  that,  consequently,  Ceesar,  not  Sallust,  is  to 
bear  the  blame  for  what  was  done. 

But  such  conjectures  produce  no  more  impression  on  the  mind 
of  a  reader  than  Walpole's  "  Historic  Doubts"  concerning  Richard 
the  Third.  They  suggest  something  that  may  have  been,  but 
bring  no  proof  of  what  actually  was ;  they  may  be  allowed  to  be 
ingenious,  but  the  general  voice  of  history  is  stilt  believed.  To 
all  Miiller's  suggestions  Gerlach  exclaims,  Credat  Judmus  !  "Were 
there,  in  the  pages  of  antiquity,  a  single  record  or  remark  favor- 
able to  the  moral  character  of  Sallust,  there  would  then  be  a  point 
d'appui  from  which  to  commence  an  attack  on  what  is  said 
against  him ;  but  the  case,  alas !  is  exactly  the  reverse  ;  wherever 
Sallust  is  characterized  as  a  man,  he  is  characterized  unfavora- 
bly. 

His  writings  consisted  of  his  narratives  of  the  Conspiracy  of 
Catiline  and  the  "War  with  Jugurtha,  and  of  a  History  of  Rome  in 
live  books,  extending  from  the  death  of  Sylla  to  the  beginning  of 
the  Mithridatic  war.  The  Catiline  and  Jugurtha  have  reached  us 
entire ;  but  of  the  History  there  now  remain  only  four  speeches, 
two  letters,  and  a  number  of  smaller  fragments  preserved  among 
the  grammarians.  That  he  was  not  the  author  of  the  Epistles  to 
Csosar,  the  reader  will  find  satisfactorily  shown  in  the  remarks 
prefixed  to  the  translation  of  them  in  the  present  volume. 

Sallust  is  supposed  to  have  formed  his  style  on  that  of  Thu- 
cydides;" but  he  has  far  excelled  his  model,  if  not  in  energy,  cer- 
tainly in  conciseness  and  perspicuity,  of  expression.  "  The 
speeches  of  Thucydides,"  says  Cicero,63  "  contain  so  many  dark 
and  intricate  passages,  that  they  are  scarcely  understood."  No 
such  complaint  can  be  made  of  any  part  of  the  writings  of  Sallust. 
"  From  any  sentence  in  Thucydides,"  says  Seneca  the  rhetorician,"4 
"however  remarkable  for  its  conciseness,  if  a  word  or  two  be 
taken  away,  the  sense  will  remain,  if  not  equally  ornate,  yet 
equally  entire ;  but  from  the  periods  of  Sallust  nothing  can  be 

"  Veil.  Pat.,  ii.  36.  »3  Orat.,  c.  »,  "  Controvers.,  iv.  24. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OP  SALLUST.  xvii 

deducted  without  detriment  to  the  meaning."  Apud  eruditas 
aures,  says  Quintilian,"  nihil  potest  esse  perfectius. 

The  defects  of  his  style  are,  that  he  wants  tlieflumen  orationis 
so  much  admired  in  Livy  and  Herodotus  ;58  that  his  transitions 
are  often  abrupt ;  and  that  he  too  much  affects  antique  phrase- 
ology." But  no  writer  can  combine  qualities  that  are  incompati- 
ble. He  is  justly  preferred  by  Quintilian58  to  Livy,  and  well  merits 
the  praise  given  him  by  Tacitus59  and  Martial,60  of  being  rerum 
Romanarum  florentissmus  auctor,  and  RomanA  primus  in  Jiistoria,^ 

Of  the  numerous  editions  of  Sallust,  that  of  Cortius,  which  ap- 
peared at  Leipsic  in  1724,  and  has  been  often  reprinted,  long  in- 
disputably held  the  first  rank.  But  Cortius,  as  an  editor,  was 
somewhat  too  fond  of  expelling  from  his  text  all  words  that  he 
could  possibly  pronounce  superfluous  ;  and  succeeding  editors,  as 
Gerlach  (Basil.  1823),  Kritz  (Leipsic,  1834),  and  Dietsch  (Leipsic, 
1846),  have  judiciously  restored  many  words  that  he  had  dis- 
carded, and  produced  tests  more  acceptable  in  many  respects  to 
the  generality  of  students. 

Sallust  has  been  many  times  translated  into  English.  The  ver- 
sions most  deserving  notice  are  those  of  Gordon  (1744),  Rose 
(1751),  Murphy  (1809),  and  Peacock  (1845.)  Gordon  has  vigor, 
but  wants  polish ;  Rose  is  close  and  faithful  but  often  dry  and 
hard ;  Murphy  is  sprightly,  but  verbose  and  licentious,  qualities 
in  which  his  admirer,  Sir  Henry  Steuart  (1806),  went  audaciously 
beyond  him ;  Mr.  Peacock's  translation  is  equally  faithful  with 
that  of  Rose,  and  far  exceeds  it  in  general  ease  and  agreeablenesa 
of  style. 

65  Inst.  Or.,  x.  1. 

58  Monboddo,  Origin  and  Prog,  of  Language,vol.  ii.  p.  200. 

"  Quint.  Inst.  Or.,  viii.  3.  «»  Inst.  Or.,  ii.  5. 

••  Ann.,  iii.  30.  «»  xiv.  191. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE   OP   FLORUS. 


CONCERNING  Floms  scarcely  any  thing  is  known.  That  he  lived 
in  the  reign  of  Trajan  is  apparent  from  the  end  of  his  Preface, 
where  he  says  that  the  Roman  empire  sub  Trojano  principe  movet 
lacertos,  "  raises  its  arms  under  the  emperor  Trajan."  He  there 
reckons,  according  to  the  common  reading,  CO  years  from  the 
reign  of  Augustus  to  his  own  times,  but  as  the  period  between  the 
reign  of  Augustus  and  the  end  of  that  of  Trajan  included  only 
CXLIII  years,  Vossius1  is  of  opinion  that  we  ought  to  read  CL. 

The  same  critic  following  Salmasius,  supposes  that  he  survived 
Trajan,  and  that  he  is  the  Floras  to  whom  Spartianus  alludes  in 
his  life  of  Hadrian,  Trajan's  successor.  But  the  identity  of  the 
two  is  extremely  uncertain.  Indeed,  it  has  been  doubted  wheth- 
er the  author  of  the  Epitome  has  any  right  to  the  name  of  Floras, 
for  in  some  manuscripts  he  is  called  only  Lucius  Annseus,  and 
Lactantius  was  accordingly  disposed  to  attribute  the  work  to 
Lucius  Annajus  Seneca,  the  philosopher.  But  Salmasins,*  in  a 
manuscript  of  great  accuracy,  which  he  considered  to  be  more 
than  eight  hundred  years  old,  found  the  name  written  Lucius 
Annans  Florus,  and  Florus  he  will  probably  contine  to  be  called. 

From  his  name  Annasus,  he  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
a  native  of  Spain,  and  of  the  same  descent  as  Seneca  and  Lucan.* 
In  commencing  his  work,  he  seems  to  have  purposed  to  write  as 
a  foreigner ;  for  through  the  whole  of  the  first  book  he  makes 
no  use  of  the  pronouns  nos  and  noster,  which  appear  for  the 
first  time  in  the  second  chapter  of  the  second  book. 

>  De  Historicis  Latinis.    »  Pref.  to  Florus.     3  Burm.  ad  Quintil.,  x.  8. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OF  FLORU&  xix 

Aa  a  historian,  he  is  of  little  authority.  His  work,  it  has  been 
observed  is  rather  a  panegyric  on  the  Romans,  than  an  accu- 
rate, history  of  their  actions.  "He  commits,"  says  Rupertus,4 
"many  a  metachronism,  and  many  a  prochronism."  His  geo- 
graphy is  not  much  better  than  his  chronology.  He  seems  to 
have  been  far  more  studious  about  his  style  than  his  matter. 

His  style  is,  indeed,  far  too  much  studied.  It  is  all  floridity  and 
affectation,  and  can  please  no  reader  of  good  taste.  There  is  in 
it,  as  has  been  remarked,5  a  poetical  tumor,  of  which  a  judicious 
historian  would  be  ashamed.  His  pages  are  full  of  labored  con- 
ceits, such  as  all  students,  ambitious  of  good  style,  must  avoid. 
He  is  childishly  fond  of  parenthetical  exclamations,  as,  0  nefas  ! 
0  pudor !  Horribile  dictu !  which  can  be  regarded  only  with 
derision.  His  love  of  brevity  has  rendered  his  meaning  some- 
times obscure.  "Were  a  person  to  come  to  the  perusal  of  Flo- 
rus,  without  having  previously  learned  any  thing  of  Roman  his- 
tory, he  would  be  sadly  puzzled  to  ascertain  his  meaning  in  many 
places. 

Of  his  conceits  the  following  are  specimens.  When  he  relates 
the  prodigy  of  the  statue  of  Apollo  perspiring  at  Cumae,  he  says 
that  the  exudation  proceeded  from  the  concern  of  the  god  for 
his  dear  Asia.6  When  he  speaks  of  the  head  of  Cicero  being  set 
on  the  Rostra,  he  observes  that  the  people  went  to  see  him  in  no 
smaller  numbers  than  they  had  previously  gone  to  hear  him.T 
When  he  describes  the  large  ships  of  Antony,  he  remarks  that 
they  moved  not  without  groaning  on  the  part  of  the  sea,  and 
fatigue  of  the  winds.8  When  he  states  that  Caesar  returned  from 
Britain  over  a  calm  sea,  he  adds  that  the  ocean  seemed  to  acknowl- 
edge itself  unequal  to  cope  with  him.*  When  he  tells  of  Fabius 
Maximus  attacking  the  enemy  from  a  higher  ground,  he  says  that 
the  aspect  of  the  battle  was  as  if  weapons  had  been  hurled  on 
giants  from  the  sky.10  When  he  mentions  that  the  Gauls  were 
constant  enemies  of  Rome,  he  speaks  of  them  as  a  whetstone  on 
which  the  Romans  might  sharpen  their  swords.11  Abundance  of 

«  Ad  Flori  Procem.,  wit.    s  Rupert,  ad  Flor.,  i.  13, 17.    «  Lib.,  ii.,  c.  8. 
T  Lib.,  iv.,  c.  7.  8  Lib.,  iv.,  c.  11.  »  Lib.,  iii.c.,  10. 

>°  Lib.,  i.,  c.  17.  "  Lib.,  ii.,  c.  3. 


xx  BIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE  OF  FLORUS. 

other  examples  might  be  given,  but  something  of  the  exquisiteness 
of  the  conceits  is  lost  in  translation. 

Of  his  character  as  a  man  nothing  can  be  gathered  from  his 
writings,  except  that  he  was  not  free  from  superstition.12 

Whether  he  was  the  author  of  the  arguments  to  the  books  of 
Livy,  which  are  printed  with  his  History  in  some  editions,  it 
would  be  useless  to  attempt  to  discover. 

Translations  of  Floras  are  not  numerous.  Tn  English  I  have 
seen  three ;  an  anonymous  one,  printed  at  Oxford  in  1636,  which 
was  full  of  mistakes,  but  was  afterward  revised  by  Meric  Cassau- 
bon,  and  reprinted  in  1658;  another  by  John  Davies,  published 
in  1672,  which  is  neither  very  faithful  to  the  sense,  nor  elegant 
in  language,  even  for  the  time  at  which  it  was  written ;  and  a 
third  by  John  Clarke,  the  translator  of  Suetonius  and  other  Latin 
authors,  which  is  sufficiently  true  to  the  sense,  but  utterly  con- 
temptible in  style. 

w  Lib.,  iv.,  c.  2.,  Jin.  atqut  alibi. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE 


or 


CAIUS   VELLEIUS    PATERCULUS. 


OP  Velleius  Paterculus,  as  of  Floras,  we  obtain  no  information 
but  from  Ms  own  pages.  He  is  not  even  named,  as  far  as  we  know, 
by  any  ancient  writer,  unless  he  be  the  Marcus  Velleius,  from 
whom  Priscian  quotes  a  few  words  in  his  sixth  book ;  for  what 
his  prsenomen  was  is  not  at  all  certain ;  since  Rhenanue,  who 
published  the  editio  princeps  from  the  only  manuscript  which  AVOS 
then  extant,  and  which  has  since  been  lost,  calls  him  Gains  in  hia 
title,  and  Publius  in  his  index. 

The  year  of  his  birth  is  uncertain,  but  he  is  conjectured  by  Dod- 
well  to  have  been  born  in  the  seven  hundred  and  thirty-fifth  year 
from  the  foundation  of  Rome,  or  the  nineteenth  before  Christ; 
the  same  year  in  which  Virgil  died. 

He  was  of  an  equestrian  family  in  Campania,  one  of  the  dis- 
tinguished members  of  which  was  Decius  Magius,1  who  adhered 
to  the  Romans  in  the  second  Punic  war.  His  grandfather  served 
Jin  the  army,  under  Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  afterward  under 
Claudius  Nero,  as  prcefectus  fabrum,  captain  of  the  artificers  or  en- 
gineers.2 His  father,  whom  he  does  not  name,  was  praefect  of 
cavalry ;  an  office  in  which  his  son  succeeded  him,  and  served 
for  nine  years  under  Tiberius  Caesar,  in  Germany.3  He  had  pre- 

i  Veil.  Pat.,  ii.  16.  »  ii.  76.  »  ii.  104. 


xxii         NOTICE  OP  CAIUS  VELLEIUS  PATEECULUS. 

viously  been  a  military  tribune,4  and  was  afterward  quaestor6  and 
praetor." 

He  wrote  his  book,  in  or  after  the  year  A.U.O.  783,  when  Mar- 
cus Vinicius,  to  whom  he  dedicates  it,  was  consul.  He  composed 
it  in  great  haste,  being  hurried  on,  he  says,  with  the  rapidity  of 
a  wheel  or  torrent ;'  but  the  cause  of  such  haste  does  not  appear. 
It  is  called  by  his  editors  a  Roman  History,  but  the  fragment 
of  the  first  book  shows  that  it  also  contained  a  large  portion 
of  the  History  of  Greece.  The  manuscript  of  his  work,  which 
I  have  mentioned  above,  was  found  by  Rhenanus  in  the  con- 
vent of  Murbach  in  Alsace ;  a  collation  of  it  appended  to  the 
edition  of  1546,  was  made  by  Burer  before  it  was  returned  to  the 
convent.8 

He  intended  to  write  a  larger  history,9  but  whether  he  executed 
his  intention  is  unknown. 

His  philosophical  tenets  seem  to  have  been,  or  to  have  resem- 
bled those  of  Epicurus.10 

The  time  of  his  death  is  uncertain :  butLipsius  conjectures  that 
he  may  have  been  involved  in  the  ruin  of  Sejanus,  to  whom  he 
seems  to  have  attached  himself,  and  whom,  as  well  as  Tiberius, 
he  is  censured  for  having  grossly  flattered.  His  flattery,  however, 
seems  to  have  consisted  rather  in  concealing  their  faults,  than  in 
attributing  to  them  imaginary  virtues. 

His  style  is  animated  and  energetic,  but  rough  and  unpolished ; 
his  sentences  are  too  long,  and  often  clogged  with  parentheses. 

He  has  twice  before-  been  translated  into  English :  by  New- 
comb,  1721,  a  rude  and  unfaithful  version ;  and  by  Baker,  1814, 
a  performance  resembling  in  style  the  Livy  of  the  same  writer. 

*  ii.  101.  6  ii.  111.  «.  ii.  124.  7  i.  16. 

•  Krattse,  p.  48,49.      •  ii.  48,  96,  99,  atque  alibi,  J0  ii.  66,  123. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE, 


THE  ARGUMENT. 

THE  INTRODUCTION.  I .-IV.  The  character  of  Catiline,  V.  Virtues  of  the  an- 
cient Romans,  VI.-1X.  Degeneracy  of  their  posterity,  X.-XIII.  Cati- 
line's associates  and  supporters,  and  the  arts  by  which  he  collected  them, 
XIV.  His  crimes  and  wretchedness,  XV.  His  tuition  of  his  accomplices, 
and  resolution  to  subvert  the  government,  XVI.  His  convocation  of  the 
conspirators,  and  their  names,  XVII.  His  concern  in  a  former  conspiracy, 
XVIII.,  XIX.  Speech  to  the  conspirators,  XX.  His  promises  to  them, 
XXI.  His  supposed  ceremony  to  unite  them,  XXII.  His  designs  discov- 
ered by  Fulvia,  XXIII.  His  alarm  on  the  election  of  Cicero  to  the  con- 
sulship, and  his  design  in  engaging  women  hi  his  cause,  XXIV.  His 
accomplice,  Semprouia,  characterized,  XXV.  His  ambition  of  the  con- 
sulship, his  plot  to  assassinate  Cicero,  and  his  disappointment  in  both, 
XXVI.  His  mission  of  Maulius  into  Etruria,  and  his  second  convention 
of  the  conspirators,  XXVII.  His  second  attempt  to  kill  Cicero ;  his  direc- 
tions to  Manlius  well  observed,  XXVIII.  His  machinations  induce  the 
Senate  to  confer  extraordinary  power  on  the  consuls,  XXIX.  His  pro- 
ceedings are  opposed  by  various  precautions,  XXX.  His  effrontery  in  the 
Senate,  XXXI.  He  sets  out  for  Etrnria.  XXXII.  His  accomplice,  Mau- 
lius, sends  a  deputation  to  Mareius,  XXXIII.  His  representations  to  va- 
rious respectable  characters,  XXXIV.  His  letter  to  Catulus,  XXXV. 
His  arrival  at  Manlius's  camp;  he  is  declared  an  enemy  by  the  Senate; 
his  adherents  continue  faithful  and  resolute.  XXXVI.  The  discontent 
and  disaffection  of  the  populace  in  Eome,  XXXVII.  The  old  contentions 
between  the  patricians  and  plebeians,  XXXVIII.  The  eifect  which  a 
victory  of  Catiline  would  have  produced,  XXXIX.  The  Allobroges  arc 
solicited  to  cng;iee  in  the  conspiracy,  XL.  They  discover  it  to  Cicero, 
XLI.  The  incaution  of  Catiline's  accomplices  in  Gaul  and  Italy,  XLII. 
The  plans  of  his  adherents  at  Rome,  XLIII.  The  Allobroges  succeed  in 
obtaining  proofs  of  the  conspirators'  guilt,  XLIV.  The  Allobroges  and 
Volturcius  are  arrested  by  the  contrivance  of  Cicero,  XLV.  The  principal 
conspirators  at  Rome  are  brought  before  the  Senate,  XLV1.  The  evidence 
against  them,  and  their  consignment  to  custody,  XLVII.  The  alteration 
in  the  minds  of  the  populace,  and  the  suspicions  entertained  against 
( 'rassus,  XLVIII.  The  attempts  of  Catulus  and  Piso  to  criminate  Caesar, 
XLIX.  The  plans  of  Lentulus  and  Cethegus  for  their  rescue,  and  the 
deliberations  of  the  Senate,  L.  The  speech  of  Csesar  on  the  mode  of 
punishing  the  conspirators,  LI.  The  speech  of  Cato  on  the  same  subject, 
LII.  Tho  condemnation  of  the  prisoners  ;  the  causes  of  Koman  greatness, 

1 


SALLUST. 

LIII.  Parallel  between  Csesar  and  Cato,  LIV.  The  execution  of  tho 
criminals,  LV.  Catiline's  warlike  preparations  in  Etruria,  LVI.  He  is 
compelled  by  Metullus  and  Antonius  to  hazard  an  action,  LV1I.  His  ex- 
hortation to  his  men,  LVIII.  His  arrangements,  and  those  of  his  op- 
ponents, for  the  battle,  LIX.  His  bravery,  defeat,  and  death,  LX.,  LXI. 


I.  IT  becomes  all  men,  who  desire  to  excel  other  animals,1  to 
strive,  to  the  utmost  of  their  power,2  not  to  pass  through  life  in 
obscurity,3  like  the  beasts  of  the  field,4  which  nature  has  formed 
groveling5  and  subservient  to  appetite. 

1  I.  Desire  to  excel  other  animals]  Sese  student prwstare  cceteris  animaliltiis. 
The  pronoun,  which  was  usually  omitted,  is,  says  Cortius,  not  without  its 
force;  for  it  is  equivalent  to  ut  vp&i:  student  tit  ipsi  prcestent.  In  support 
of  his  opinion  he  quotes,  with  other  passages,  I'laut.  Asinar.  5.  3,  31 :  Volt 
placere  sese  arnicas,  i.  e.  vult  ut  ij>se  amicce  placeat ;  and  Coelius  Antipater 
apud  Festum  in  "  Topper,"  Ita  uti  sese  quisque  vobis  studeat  semulan,  i.  e. 
studeat  vt  ipse  aemuletur.  This  explanation  is  approved  by  Bernouf.  Cortiu* 
might  have  added  Cat.  7 :  sese  quisque  hostcmfenre — -properabat.  "  Student," 
Cortius  interprets  by  "  cupjunt." 

a  To  the  utmost  of  their  power]  Svmma,  ope,  with  their  utmost  ability. 
"A  Sallustiaii  mode  of  expression.  Cicero  would  have  said  summa  opera, 
xnmmo  studio,  summa  contentwne.  Ennius  has  '  Summa  nitunturopum  viS  " 
Colerus. 

3  In  obscurity]  Silentio.  So  as  to  have  nothing  said  of  them,  cither  during 
their  lives  or  at  their  death.  So  in  c.  2:  Eorum  ego  vitam  mortemqueju.itu, 
(zstumo,  quoniam  de  tttrayue  siletur.  When  Ovid  says,  Bene  qui  latuit,  lene 
vixit,  ana  Horace,  Nee  vixit  male,  gui  vivens  moriensque  ftfdht,  they  merely 
signify  that  he  has  some  comfort  in  life,  who,  in  ignoble  obscurity,  escapes 
trouble  and  censure.  But  men  thus  undistinguished  are,  in  the  estimation 
of  Sallust,  little  superior  to  the  brute  creation.  "Optimus  quisque,"  savs 
Muretus,  quoting  Cicero,  "honoris  ct  gloria;  studio  maxime  ducitur;"  tr.o 
ablest  men  are  most  actuated  by  the  desire  of  honor  and  glory,  and  aro 
more  solicitous  about  the  character  which  they  will  bear  among  posterity. 
With  reason,  therefore,  does  Pallas,  in  the  Odyssey,  address  the  t'ollowiug 
exhortation  to  Telemachus : 

"Hast  thou  not  heard  how  young  Orestes,  fir'd 
With  great  revenge,  immortal  praise  acqair'd? 
*  *  *  *  * 

O  trreatly  bless'd  with  ev'ry  blooming  grace, 
With  eq'ual  steps  the  paths  of  glory  trace  1 
Join  to  that  royal  youth's  your  rival  name, 
And  shine  eternal  in  the  sphere  of  fame." 

«  Like  the  beasts  of  the  field]  Veluti, pecora.  Many  translators  have  ren- 
dered pecora  "brutes"  or  "beasts;"  peciix,  however,  does  not  mean  brutes 
in  general,  but  answers  to  our  Englisli  word  cattle. 

•  Groveling]  Prona.  I  have  adopted  groveling  from  Mair's  old  transla- 
tion. Pronus,  stooping  to  the  tarth,  is  applied  to  cattle,  in  opposition  to 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  3 

All  our  power  is  situate  in  the  mind  and  in  the  body."  Of 
the  mind  we  rather  employ  the  government  ;T  of  the  body,  the 

erectut,  which  is  applied  to  man  ;  as  in  the  following  lilies  of  Ovid,  Met.  i. 
76: 

"  Prowaque  cum  spectent  animalia  castera  terrain, 

Os  homini  sublime  dedit,  ccelumque  tueri 

Jussit,  et  erectos  ad  sidera  tollere  vultus." 

" while  the  mute  creation  downward  bend 

Their  sight,  and  to  their  earthly  mother  tend, 
Man  looks  aloft,  anil  with  erected  eyes 
Beholds  his  own  hereditary  skies."     Dryden. 

Which  Milton  (Par.  L.  vii.  502)  has  paraphrased: 

"  There  wanted  yet  the  master-work,  the  end 
Of  all  yet  done ;  a  creature,  who  not  prone 
And,  brute  as  other  creatures,  but  endued 
With  sanctity  of  reason,  mi^ht  erect 
His  stature,  and  upright  with  front  serene 
Govern  the  rest,  self-knowing,  and  from  thence 
Magnanimous  to  correspond  with  heaven." 

So  Silius  Italicus,  xv.  84 : 

"  Xonne  vides  hominum  ut  celsos  ad  sidera  vultus 
Sustulerit  Deus,  et  sublimia  fiuxerit  ora, 
Cum  pecudes,  volucrnmque  genus,  formaso^ue  ferarum, 
Segnem  atque  obscoenam  passim  stravisset  in  alvum," 

"  See'st  thon  not  how  the  Deity  has  rais'd 
The  countenance  of  man  erect  to  heav'n, 
Gazing  sublime,  while  prone  to  earth  he  bent 
Th'  inferior  tribes,  reptiles,  and  p-.istnring  herds, 
And  beasts  of  prey,  to  appetite  enslav'u  P1 

"When  Nature,"  says  Cicero,  de  Legg.  i.  9,  "had  made  other  animals  ab- 
ject, and  consigned  them  to  the  pastures,  she  made  man  alone  upright,  and 
raised  him  to  the  contemplation  of  heaven,  as  of  his  birthplace  and  former 
abode  ;"  a  passage  which  Dryden  seems  to  have  had  in  his  mind  when  ho 
translated  the  lines  of  Ovid  cited  above.  Let  us  add  Juvenal,  xv.  146 : 

"  Sensum  a  coelesti  demissum  traximus  arce, 
Cujus  egeut  prona  et  terrain  spectantia." 

"To  us  is  reason  giv'n,  of  heav'nly  birth, 
Denied  to  beasts,  that  prone  regard  the  earth." 

•  All  our  power  is  situate  in  the  mind  and  in  the  body]  Sed  omnis  nostra 
TIS  in  animo  et  corpore  sita.  All  our  power  is  placed,  or  consists,  in  our  mind 
i:nd  our  body.  ^The  particle  sed,  which  is  merely  a  connective,  answering 
to  the  Greek  de,  and  which  would  be  useless  in  an  Euglish  translation,  I 
have  omitted. 

7  Of  the  mind  we — employ  the  government]  Animi  imptrio — utimtir. 
"  What  the  Deity  is  in  the  universe,  the  mind  is  in  man  ;  what  mat'er  is  to 
the  universe,  the  body  is  to  us;  let  the  worse,  therefore,  serve  the  better." 
— Sen.  Epist.  Ixv.  Dux  et  imperator  vitas  mortalium  animus  eat,  the  mind  is 
the  guide  and  ruler  of  the  life  of  mortals. — Jug.  c.  1.  "  Au  animal  consists 


4  SALLUST. 

service.8  The  one  is  common  to  us  with  the  gods ;  the  other 
with  the  brutes.  It  appears  to  me,  therefore,  more  reasonable" 
to  pursue  glory  by  means  of  the  intellect  than  of  bodily  strength, 
and,  since  the  life  which  we  enjoy  is  short,  to  make  the  remem- 
brance of  us  as  lasting  as  possible.  For  the  glory  of  wealth 
and  beauty  is  fleeting  and  perishable ;  that  of  intellectual  power 
is  illustrious  and  immortal.10 

of  mind  and  body,  of  which  the  one  is  formed  by  nature  to  rule,  and  the 
other  to  obey." — Aristot.  Polit.  i.  5.  Muretus  and  Graswiuckel  will  supply 
abundance  of  similar  passages. 

*  Of  the  mind  we  rather  employ  the  government ;  of  the  body,  the  service] 
minimi  imperio,  corporis  servitw,  magis  utimur.  The  word  magis  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  useless.  "  It  signifies,"  says  Cortius,  "  that  the  mind  rules,  and 
the  body  obeys,  in  general,  and  with  greater  reason.'''1  At  certain  times  the 
body  may  seem  to  have  the  mastery,  us  when  we  are  under  the  irresistible  in- 
fluence of  hunger  or  thirst. 

8  It  appears  to  me,  therefore,  more  reasonable,  etc.]  Quo  mihi  rectius 
videtur,  etc.  I  have  rendered  quo  by  therefore.  "  Quo,  observes  Cortius, 
"  ispropter  quod,  with  the  proper  force  of  the  ablative  case.  So  Jug.  c.  84 : 
Quo  mihi  acrius  adnitendum  est,  etc;  c.  2,  Quo  magis  pravitas  eorum  ad- 
miranda  est.  Some  expositors  would  force  us  to  believe  that  these  ablatives 
are  inseparably  connected  with  the  comparative  degree,  as  in  quo  minus,  eo 
major,  and  similar  expressions ;  whereas  common  sense  shows  that  they 
can  not  be  so  connected."  Kritzius  is  one  of  those  who  interprets  in  the 
way  to  which  Cortius  alludes,  as  if  the  drift  of  the  passage  were,  Quanta 
magis  animus  corpori  prceAtat,  tanto  rec'ius  ingenii  opibus  gloriam  quczrere. 
But  most  of  the  commentators  and  translators  rightly  follow  Cortius. 
"  Quo,'''1  says  Papptiur,  "is  for  quodim." 

10  That  of  intellectual  powor  is  illustrious  and  immortal]  Virtus  clira 
ceternaque  haletur.  The  only  one  of  our  English  translators  who  has  given 
the  right  sense  of  virtus  in  this  passage,  is  bir  Henry  Steuart,  who  was 
guided  to  it  by  the  Abbe  Thy  von  and  M.  Beauzec.  "  It  appears  somewhat 
singular,"  say's  Sir  Henry,  ""that  none  of  the  numerous  translators  of  Sal- 
lust,  whether  among  ourselves  or  among  foreigu  nations — the  Abb6  Thy  von 
and  M.  Beauzee  excopted — have  thought  of  giving  to  the  word  virtus,  in  this 
place,  what  so  obviously  is  the  meaning  intended  by  the  historian;  namely, 
*genius,  ability,  distinguished  talents.'  Indeed,  the  wlioie  tenor  of  the 
passage,  as  well  as  the  scope  of  the  context,  leaves  no  room  to  doubt  the 
1'act.  The  main  objects  of  comparison,  throughout  the  three  first  sections 
of  this  Prcemium,  or  introductory  discourse,  are  not  vice  and  virtue,  but 
body  and  mindj  a  listless  indolence,  and  a  vigorous,  honorable  activity. 
On  this  account  it  is  pretty  evident,  that  by  virtus  Sallust  could  never  mean 
the  Greek  dperij,  '  virtue  or  moral  worth,'  but  that  lie  had  in  his  eye  the 
well-known  interpretation  of  Varro,  who  considers  it  ut  viri  vis  (Dc  Line. 
Lat.  iv.),  as  denoting  the  useful  energy  which  ennobles  a  man,  and  should 
chiefly  distinguish  him  among  his  fellow-creatures.  In  order  to  be  con- 
vinced of  the  justice  of  this  rendering,  we  need  only  turn  to  another 
passage  of  our  author,  in  the  second  section  of  the  Prneinium  to  the 
.lugarthine  War,  where  the  same  train  of  thought  is  again  pursued,  al- 
though he  gives  it  somewhat  a  different  turn  in  the  piece  last  mentioned. 
The  object,  notwithstanding,  of  both  these  Dissertations  is  to  illustrate,  in 
a  striking  manner,  the  pre-eminence  of  the  mind  over  extrinsic  advanta^s 
or  bodily  endowments,  and  to  show  that  it  is  by  genius  alone  thut  we  may 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  5 

Yet  it  was  long  a,  subject  of  dispute  among  mankind,  whether 
military  efforts  were  more  advanced  by  strength  of  body,  or  by 
force  of  intellect.  For,  in  affairs  of  war,  it  is  necessary  to  plan 
before  beginning  to  act,11  and,  after  planning,  to  act  with 
promptitude  and  vigor.14  Thus,  each13  being  insufficient  of 
itself,  the  one  requires  the  assistance  of  the  other.14 

II.  In  early  times,  accordingly,  kings  (for  that  was  the  first 
title  of  sovereignty  in  the  world)  applied  themselves  in  different 
ways;16  some  exercised  the  mind,  others  the  body.  At  that 
period,  however,18  the  life  of  man  was  passed  without  covetous- 
ness;17  every  one  was  satisfied  with  his  own.  But  after  Cyrus 
in  Asia18  and  the  Lacedaemonians  and  Athenians  in  Greece,  be- 

aspire  to  a  reputation  which  shall  never  die.  Igltur  prceclara  fades,  magncs 
divitioR,  adhuc  vis  curporls,  et  alia  hujusmodi  omnia,  orevi  dUabuntur:  at  in~ 
genii  egregiafacinora,  sicut  anima,  immortalia  sunt." 

11  It  is  necessary  to  plan  before  beginning  to  act]  Priusquam  incipias,  crm- 
fulto — opus  est.     Most  translators  have  rendered  consuUo  "  deliberation,"  or 
something  equivalent;  but  it  is  planning  or  contrivance  that  is  signified. 
Demosthenes,  in  his  Oration  de  Pace,  reproaches  the  Athenians  with  act- 
ing without  any  settled  plan:  'Of  HEV  yup  ID-Jkoi  Tnuref  uvdpuTtoi  rrpd  ruv 
Trpayi-tuTuv  hudaai  xP'/cOai  rti  (3ovAeveadai,  vfj.elf   6v6£  peril  TO.  Trpuy- 
fiara. 

12  To  act  with  promptitude  r.nd  vi^ror]    Mature  facto  opus  est.     "Mature 
facto"  seems  to  include  the  notions  b<>th  of  promptitude  and  vigor,  offeree 
as  well  as  speed  ;  for  what  would  be  the  use  of  acting  expeditiously,  unless 
expedition  be  attended  with  power  and  effect  ? 

13  Each]  Utr unique.    The  corporeal  and  mental  faculties. 

14  The  one  requires  the  assistance  of  the  other]  Alterum  altering  auxilio 
ffiet.     "  Eget"  says  Cortius,  "is  the  reading  of  all  the  MSS."      Veget,  which 
Havercamp  and  some  others  have  adopted,  was  the  conjecture  of  Palmerius, 
on  account  of  indigene  occurring  in  the  same  sentence.    But  eget  agrees  far 
better  with  consulto  et — mature  facto  opus  est,  in  the  preceding  sentence. 

15  II.  Applied  themselves  in  different  ways]  DiversL     "  Modo  et  instituto 
diverso,  diversa  sequentes."     Cur-'-- 

18  At  that  period,  however]  Et  jam  turn.  "  Tune  temporis  pracise,  at 
tlint  time  precisely,  which  is  the  force  of  the  particle  jam,  as  donatus  shows. 
*  *  *  I  have  therefore  written  et  jam  separately.  *  *  *  Virg.  ^En. 
vii.  737.  Lateyarw  turn  ditionc  premebat  Sarrastes  popnlos."  Cortius. 

17  Without  covetousness]  Sine  cupiditate.     "As  in  the  famous  golden 
r.cre.    See  Tacit.  Ann.  iii.  26."  Cortius.    See  also  Ovid.  Met.  i.  89,  seq.     But 
"such  times  were  never,"  as  Cowper  says. 

18  But  after  Cyrus  in  Asia,  etc.]  Posiea  -cero  quam  in  Asia  Cyrus,  etc. 
Fallust  writes  as  if  he  had  supposed  that  kings  were  more  moderate  before 
the  time  of  Cyrus.    But  this  can  hardly  have  been  the  case.     "  The  Ro- 
mans," says  De  Brosses,  whose  words  I  abridge,  "  though  not  learned  in 
antiquity,  "could  not  have  been  ignorant  that  there  were  great  conquerors 
before  C'vrus  ;  as  Xinus  and  Sesostris.    But  as  their  reigns  belonged  rather 
to  the  fabulous  ages.  Sallust,  in  entering  upon  a  serious  history,  wished  to 
confine  himself  to  what  was  certain,  and  went  no  further  back  than  the  re- 
cords of  Herodotus  and  Thucydides."     Ninns,  sa<*  Justin,  i.  1,  was  the 
first  to  change,  through  inordinate  ambition,  the  veterem  et  quasi  avitum 


6  SALLUST. 

gan  to  subjugate  cities  and  nations,  to  deem  the  lust  of  domin- 
ion a  reason  for  war,  and  to  imagine  the  greatest  glory  to  be  in 
the  most  extensive  empire,  it  was  then  at  length  discovered,  by 
proof  and  experience,19  that  mental  power  has  the  greatest 
effect  in  military  operations.  And,  indeed,20  if  the  iatcllcctu:;! 
ability21  of  kings  and  magistrates"  were  exerted  to  the  same 
degree  in  peace  as  in  war,  human  affairs  would  be  more  orderly 
and  settled,  and  you  Avould  not  see  governments  shifted  from 
hand  to  hand,"  and  things  universally  changed  and  confused. 
For  dominion  is  easily  secured  by  those  qualities  by  which  it  was 
at  first  obtained.  But  when  sloth  has  introduced  itself  in  the. 
place  of  industry,  and  covetousness  and  pride  in  that  of  mod- 
eration and  equity,  the  fortune  of  a  state  is  altered  together 
with  its  morals  ;  and  thus  authority  is  always  transferred  from 
the  less  to  the  more  deserving.24 

Even  in  agriculture,"  in  navigation,  and  in  architecture, 
whatever  man  performs  owns  the  dominion  of  intellect.  Yet 
many  human  beings,  resigned  to  sensuality  and  indolence,  ua- 

gentilnt.8  morem,  that  is,  to  break  through  the  settled  restraints  of  law  and 
order.  Gerlach  agrees  in  opinion  with  De  Brosses. 

111  Proof  and  experience]  Periculo  atque  neyotiix.  Gronovius  rightly  in- 
terprets periculo  "  experiundo,  experiments,"  by  experiment  or  trial. 
Cortius  takes  periculo  atque  negotiis  for  periculc/sis  negotiis,  by  hendyadys  ; 
but  to  this  figure,  as  Kritzius  remarks,  we  ought  but  sparingly  to  have  re- 
course. It  is  better,  he  adds,  to  take  the  words  in  their  ordinary  signifi- 
cation, understanding  by  negotia  "res  graviores."  Bernouf  judioiouMy 
explains  negotils  by  "  ipsa  negotiorum  tractationc,"  i.  e.  by  the  management 
of  affairs,  or  by  experience  in  affairs.  Bureau  Delamallc,  the  French  trans- 
lator, hss  "  1'experience  et  la  pratique."  Mair  has  "  trial  and  experience," 
which,  I  believe,  faithfully  expresses  Sallust's  meaning.  Kosc  gives  only 
"  experience"  for  both  words. 

'•">  And,  indeed,  if  the  intellectual  ability,  etc.]  Quod  si — animi  virtus, 
etc.  "  Quod  si"  can  not  here  be  rendered  "but  if ;  it  is  rather  equivalent  to 
quapropter  si,  and  might  be  expressed  by  wherefore  if,  if  therefore,  if  then, 
so  that  if. 

21  Intellectual  ability]  Animi  virtus.  Sec  the  remarks  on  virtus,  above 
cited. 

23  Magistrates]  Imperatorvm.    "  Understand  all  who  govern  states,  wheth- 
er in  war  or  in  peace."     Bernovf.     Sallust  calls  the  consuls  imperatores, 
c.  6. 

«  Governments  shifted  from  hand  to  hand]  Aliud  olio  ferri.  Evidently 
til  hiding  to  changes  in  government. 

24  Less  to  the  more  deserving]  Ad  optimum  quemque  a  minus  lono.  "  From 
the  less  good  to  the  best." 

25  Even   in  agriculture,  etc.]   Qn(e  homines  arant,  navigant,   cedificant, 
virtuti  omnia  parent.     Literally,  what  men  plow,  sail,  etc.    Sallust's  meaning 
is,  that  agriculture,  navigation,  arid  architecture,  though  they  may  seem  to 
be  effected  by  mere  bodily  exertion,  are  as  much,  the  result  of  mental  power 
as  the  highest  of  human  pursuits. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  .    7 

instructed  and  unimproved,  \it\\.-  }>  ss  >1  through  life  like  travel- 
ers in  a  strange  country  j30  to  whom,  certainly,  contrary  to  the 
,  intention  of  nature,  the  body  was  a  gratification,  and  the  mind 
a  burden.  Of  these  I  hold  the  life  and  death  in  equal  estima- 
tion ;a7  for  silence  is  maintained  concerning  both.  But  he  only, 
indeed,  seems  to  me  to  live,  and  to  enjoy  life,  who,  intent  upon 
some  employment,  seeks  reputation  from  some  ennobling  enter- 
prise, or  honorable  pursuit. 

But  in  the  great  abundance  of  occupations,  nature  points  out 
different  paths  to  different  individuals.  III.  To  act  well  for  the 
Commonwealth  is  noble,  and  even  to  speak  well  for  it  is  not 
without  merit.28  Both  in  peace  and  in  war  it  is  possible  to  ob- 
tain celebrity  ;  many  who  have  acted,  and  many  who  have 
recorded  the  actions  of  others,  receive  their  tribute  of  praise. 
And  to  me,  assuredly,  though  by  no  means  equal  glory  attends 
the  narrator  and  the  performer  of  illustrious  deeds,  it  yet  seems  in 
the  highest  degeee  difficult  to  write  the  history  of  great  tran- 
sactions ;  first,  because  deeds  must  be  adequately  represented'9 
by  words ;  and  next,  because  most  readers  consider  that  what- 
ever errors  you  mention  with  censure,  are  mentioned  through 
malevolence  and  envy ;  while,  when  you  speak  of  the  great 
virtue  and  glory  of  eminent  men,  every  one  hears  with  acqui- 
escence30 only  that  which  he  himself  thinks  easy  to  be  per- 

26  Like  travelers  in  a  strange  country]  Sicufi  peregrinantes.    "Vivere 
nesciunt ;  igitur  in  vita  quasi  nospites  sunt ;"  they  know  not  how  to  use 
life,  and  are  therefore,  as  it  were,  strangers  in  it.    Dietsch.     "  Peregrinantts, 
qui,  qua  transeunt,  nullum  sui  vestigium  relinqunnt :"  they  are  as  travelers, 
who  do  nothing  to  leave  any  trace  of  their  course.    Pappaur. 

27  Of  these  I  hold  the  life  and  death  in  equal  estimation]  Eorum  eopvitam 
mortemque  j 't/xfa  attimo.    I  count  them  of  the  same  value  dead  as  alive,  for 
they  are  honored  in  the  one  state  as  much  as  in  the  other.     "  Those  who 
are  devoted  to  the  gratification  of  their  appetites,"  as  Sallust  says,  "  let  us 
regard  as  inferior  animals,  not  as  men ;  and  some,  indeed,  not  as  living,  but 
as  dead  animals."    Seneca,  Ep.  Ix. 

28  III.  Not  without  merit]  Haud  absurdam.     I  have  borrowed  this  ex- 
pression from  Eose,  to  whom  Muretus  furnished  "sua  laude  non  caret." 
"  The  word  dbsurdus  is  often  used  by  the  Latins  as  an  epithet  for  sounds 
disagreeable  to  the  ear  •  but  at  length  it  came  to  be  applied  to  any  action 
unbecoming  a  rational  being."     KunhardL 

29  Deeds  must  be  adequately  represented,  etc.]  Facto,   dlctis   tunt  ex- 
cequanda.     Most  translators  have  regarded  these  words  as  signifying  that 
tht  subject  m  ttxt  be  equaled  by  the  style.    But  it  is  not  of  mere  style  that 
F-.llust  is  speaking.     "  lie  means  that  the  matter  must  be  so  represented 
by  the  words,  that  honorable  actions  may  not  be  too  much  praised,  and  that 
dishonorable  actions  may  not  be  too  much  blamed  ;  and  that  the  reader  may 
at  once  understand  what  was  done  and  how  it  was  done."     Kunhardt. 

30  Every  one  hears  with  acquiescence,  etc.]  Qwvs:M — ORquoanimo  accipit, 
etc.     This  is  taken  from  Thucydides,  ii.  35.     "  For  praises  spoken  of  others 


8  SALLUST. 

formed ;  all  beyond  his  own  conception  he  regards  as  fictitious 
and  incredible.31 

I'myself,  however,  when  a  young  man,33  was  at  first  led  by 
inclination,  like  most  others,  to  engage  in  political  affairs ;"  but 
in  that  pursuit  many  circumstances  were  unfavorable  to  me ; 
for,  instead  of  modesty,  temperance,  and  integrity,34  there  pre- 
vailed shamelessness,  corruption,  and  rapacity.  And  although 
iny  mind,  inexperienced  in  dishonest  practices,  detested  these 
vices,  yet,  in  the  midst  of  so  great  corruption,  my  tender  age 
was  insnared  and  infected35  by  ambition  ;  and,  though  I  shrunk 
from  the  vicious  principles  of  those  around  me,  yet  the  same 
eagerness  for  honors,  the  same  obloquy  and  jealousy,89  which 
disquieted  others,  disquieted  myself. 

IV.  When,  therefore,  my  mind  had  rest  from  its  numerous 

are  only  endured  so  far  as  eaeli  one  thinks  that  he  is  himself  also  capable  of 
doing  any  of  the  things  ho  hears:  but  that  which  exceeds  their  own  ca- 
pacity, men  at  onco  envy  and  disbelieve."  Dale's  Translation :  Bohn's 
Classical  Library. 

31  Eegards  as  fictitious  and  incredible]  Velutificta,  pro  fains  ducit.  Ducit 
profalsis,  he  considers  as  false  or  incredible,  velutijicta,  as  if  invented. 

32  When  a  young  man]  Adolescentulas.     "  It  is  generally  admitted  that 
all  were  called  adoleacentes  by  the  Romans^  who  were  between  the  fifteenth 
or  seventeenth  year  of  their  age  and  the  fortieth.     The  diminutive  is  used 
in  the  same  sense,  but  with  a  view  to  contrast  more  strongly  the  ardor  and 
spirit  of  youth  with  the  moderation,  prudence,  and  experience  of  age.    So 
Caesar  is  called  advlescentulus,  in  c.  49,  at  a  time  when  ne  was  in  his  thirty- 
third  year."    Dietsch.     And  Cicero,  referring  to  the  time  of  his  consulship, 
says,  "Defendi  rempublicam  adolescens,  Philipp.  ii.  46. 

33  To  engage  in  political  affairs]  Ad^  rempublicam.     "  In  the  phrase  of 
Cornelius  Nepos,  honoribus  operam  dedi,  I  sought  to  obtain  some  share  in 
the  management  of  the  Republic.    All  public  matters  were  comprehended 
under  the  term  Respublica.     Cortius. 

31  Integrity]  Virtute.  Cortius  rightly  explains  this  word  as  meaning 
ustice,  equity,  and  all  other  virtues  necessary  in  those  who  manage  the 
affairs  ot  a  state.  Observe  that  it  is  here  opposed  to  avaritia,  not,  as  some 
critics  would  have  it,  to  largitio. 

35  Was  ensnared  and  infected]  Gorrupta  tenebatur.  As  obsessus  tenetur, 
Jug.,  c.  24. 

3»  The  same  eagerness  for  honors,  the  same  obloquy  and  jealousy,  etc.] 
Honor  It  cupido  cadem  quce  cwteros,  fama  utque  invidia  vexabat.  I  follow  the 
interpretation  of  Cortius :  "  Me  vexabat  honoris  cupido,  et  vexabat  pr'tpterea 
i  etiam  eadem,  quae  casteros,  fama  atque  inviclia."  He  adds,  from  a  gloss  in 
the  Guelferbytan  MS.,  that  it  is  a  zeugma.  " Fama  atque  invidia"  says 
Gronovius,  "is  iv  6iti  fivolv,  for  invidlosa  et  maliyna  fama.'''  Bernouf,  with 
Zanchius  and  others,  read/amo.  atque  invidia,  in  the  ablative  case ;  and  the 
Bipont  edition  has  eadem  qua— -fama,  el:. ;  but  the  method  of  Cortius  is, 
to  me,  by  far  the  most  straightforward  ami  satisfactory.  Sallust,  observes 
De  Brosses,  in  his  note  on  this  passage,  wrote  the  account  of  Catiline's  con- 
spiracy shortly  after  his  expulsion  from  the  Senate,  and  wishes  to  make  it 
appear  that  he  suffered  from  calumny  on  the  occasion;  though  he  took  no 
trouble,  in  the  subsequent  part  of  hia  life,  to  put  such  calumny  to  Bilence. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  9 

troubles  and  trials,  and  I  ha  1  determined  to  pass  the  remainder 
of  my  days  unconnected  with  public  life,  it  was  not  my  inten- 
tion to  waste  my  valuable  leisure  in  indolence  and  inactivity,  or, 
engaging  in  servile  occupations,  to  spend  my  time  in  agriculture 
or  hunting  ;~7  but,  returning  to  those  studies38  from  which,  at 
their  commencement,  a  corrupt  ambition  had  allured  me,  I  de- 
termined to  write,  in  detatched  portions,3*  the  transactions  of 
the  Roman  people,  as  any  occurrence  should  seem  worthy  of 
mention  ;  an  undertaking  (o  which  I  was  the  rather  inclined,  r.s 
my  mind  was  uninfluenced  by  hope,  fear,  or  political  partisan- 
ship. I  shall  accordingly  give  a  brief  account,  with  as  much 
truth  as  I  can,  of  the  Conspiracy  of  Catiline ;  for  I  think  it  aa 
enterprise  eminently  deserving  of  record,  from  the  unusual  na- 
ture both  of  its  guilt  and  of  its  perils.  But  before  I  enter  upon 
my  narrative,  I  must  give  a  short  description  of  the  character  of 
the  man. 

V.  Lucius  CATILINE  was  a  man  of  noble  birth,40  and  of  em- 
inent mental  and  personal  endowments ;  l>ut  of  a  vicious  a::d 

37  IV.  Servile  occupations — agriculture  or  hunting]  Agrum  coiendo,  aut 
venando,  servttibm  officiis  inUntum.  By  calling  agriculture  and  hunting 
ter  villa  officia,  Sallust  intends,  as  is  remarked  by  Graswinckelius,  little  more 
than  was  expressed  in  the  savins?  of  Julian  the  emperor,  Turpe  est  sapienti, 
cum  Itabeat  animum,  capture  laudes  ex  corpore.  "Ita  ergo,"  adds  the  com- 
mentator, "  agricultura  et  veuutio  servilia  officia  Mint,  quum  in  solo  consis- 
tent corporis  usu,  nnimum,  vero  nee  meliorem  nee  prndentiorcm  rcddant. 
Qui  labor  in  se  ccrte  cst  illiberalis,  ei  prsesertim  cui  faoultas  sit  ad  meliora." 
Symmachua  (1  v.  Ep.  60)  and  some  others,  whose  remarks  the  reader  may 
see  in  Havercamp,  think  that  Sallust  might  have  spoken  of  hunting  and 
agriculture  with  more  respect,  and  accuse  him  of  not  remembering,  -vrith 
sufficient  veneration,  the  kings  and  princes  that  have  amusdd  themselves 
in  hunting,  and  such  illustrious  plowmen  as  Curius  and  Cincinnatus. 
Sallust,  however,  is  sufficiently  defended  from  censure  by  the  Abbe1  Thy- 
von,  in  a  dissertation  much  longer  than  the  subject  deserves,  and  much 
longer  than  most  readers  are  willing  to  peruse. 

33  Returning  to  those  studies,  etc.]  A  quo  incepfo  studio  me  amtntio  mala 
detiiiu^rat,  e<}<lem  regressus.  "The  study,  namely,  of  writing  history,  to 
which  he  signifies  that  he  was  attached  in  c.  3."  dortiuf. 

M  In  detached  portions]  Carptim.  "  Plin.  Ep.  viii.,  47  :  Respondebis  non 
posse  perinde  carptim,  ut  contexta  placere  :  et  vi.  22 :  Egit  car-ptim  et  Knrd 
KtQii/.aia,"  Dietsch. 

V.  Of  noble  birth]  NoVdi  genere  natus.    His  three  names  were  Luciu.s 


7ne  (kiheal  Im-enut  quixqimm  tullimiug?  His  great  grandfather,  L.  Sergiua 
^ilus,  had  eminently  distinguished  himself  by  his  services  in  the  second 
Punic  war.  See  Pfln.  Hist.  Nat.  vii.  29.  "Catiline  was  born  A.r.c.  647, 
i.e.  107."  Dietsch.  Ammianus  Marcellinus  (lib.  xxv.)  says  that  he  was  tho 
last  of  the  Sergii. 

1* 


10  SALLUST. 

depraved  disposition.  His  delight,  from  his  youth,  had  heen  in 
civil  commotions,  bloodshed,  robbery,  and  sedition  ;41  and  in 
fiiiL-h  scenes  he  had  spent  his  early  years.42  His  constitution 
could  endure  hunger,  want  of  sleep,  and  cold,  to  a  dcgn  e  MI> 
passing  belief.  His  mind  was  daring,  subtle,  and  versatile,  ca- 
pable of  pretending  or  dissembling  whatever  lie  wished.43  Ho 
vas  covetous  of  other  men's  property,  and  prodigal  of  his  own. 
lie  had  abundance  of  eloquence,44  though  but  little  wisdom. 
His  insatiable  ambition  was  always  pursuing  objects  extrava- 
gant, romantic,  and  unattainable. 

Since  the  time  of  Sylla's  dictatorship,46  a  strong  desire  of 

41  Sedition]  Discordia  clvilis. 

43  And  in  such  scenes  he  had  spent  his  early  years]  Pnque  juventutem 
suam  exercuit.  "  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Roman  writers  often  used  an 
adverb,  where  we,  of  modern  times,  should  express  ourselves  more  specifi- 
cally by  using  a  noun."  Dietsch  on  c.  3,  ibique  multa  miki  advorsa  fuere. 
Juuentus  properly  signified  the  time  between  thirty  and  forty-five  years  of 
age ',  adotescentia  that  between  fifteen  and  thirty.  But  this  distinction  was 
not  always  accurately  observed.  Catiline  had  taken  an  active  part  in  sup- 
porting Sylla,  and  in  carrying  into  execution  his  cruel  proscriptions  and 
mandates.  "  Quis  erat  hujus  (Syllae)  imperil  minister?  Quid  nisi  Catilina, 
jam  in  omne  facinus  man  us  exercens?"  Sen.  de  Ira,  iii.  18. 

43  Capable  of  pretending  or  dissembling  whatever  he  wished]  Cujuslibet 
rei  simulator  ac  dissimulator.     "  Dissimulation  is  the  negative,  when  a  man 
leta  fall  signs  and  arguments,  that  he  is  not  that  he  is;  simulation  is  the 
affirmative,  when  a  mnn  industriously  and  expressly  feigns,  and  pretends  to 
be  that  he  is  not."     Bacon,  Essay  vi. 

44  Abundance  of  eloquence]  Satis  eloquential.      Cortius  reads   loquentia. 
"  Loquentia  is  a  certain  facility  of  speech  not  necessarily  attended  with,  sound 
sense;  called  by  the  Greeks   7.a'/.ia."  Bernmtf.     "Julius  Candidus  used 
excellently  to  observe  that  eloquentia  was  one  thing,  and  loquentia  another; 
for  eloquence  is  given  to  few,  but  what  Candidus  called  loquentia,  or  fluency 
of  speech,  is  the  tul  nt  of  many,  and  especially  of  the  most  impudent."  Plin. 
Ep.  v.  20.     But  eluqttentice  is  the  reading  of  most  of  the  MSS.,  and  loqiientice, 
if  Aulus  Gellius  (i.  15)  was  rightly  informed,  was  a  correction  of  Valerius 
Probus,  the  grammarian,  who  said  that  Sal  lust  must  have  written  so,  as 
eloquenticK  could  not  agree  with  sapierdice parurn.     This  opinion  of  Pro! > us, 
however,  may  be  questioned.    May  not  Ballast  have  written  eloquentwi,  with 
the  intention  of  signifying  that  Catiline  had  abundance  of  eloquence  to  work 
on  the  minds  of  others,  though  he  wanted  prudence  to  regulate  his  own 
conduct?    Have  there  not  been  other  men  of  whom  the  same  may  be  said, 
as  Mirabeau,  for  example?    The  speeches  that  Sallust  puts  into  Catiline's 
mouth  (c.  iio,  58)  are  surely  to  be  characterized  rather  as  eloquentM  than 
loquentia.     On  the  whole,  and  especially  from  the  concurrence  of  MSS.,  I 
prefer  to  read  doquentice,  with  the  more  recent  editors,  Gerlach,  Kritz,  and 
Dietsch. 

45  Since  the  time  of  Sylla's  dictatorship]  Post  dominationem  Lucii  Sylla. 
"The  meaning  is  not  the  same  as  if  it  were  Jinitii  dominatione,  but  is  t!:o 
same  as  ab  to  tempore  quo  df/minari  cceperat.     In  French,  therefore,  po^t 
should  be  rendered  by  depuLs,  not,  as  it  is  commonly  translated,  apr<  *." 
Bernouf.    As  dictator  was  the  title  that  Sylla  assumed,  1  have  translated 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  H 

seizing  the  government  possessed  him,  nor  did  he  at  all  care, 
provided  that  he  secured  power46  for  himself,  by  what  means  he 
might  arrive  at  it.  His  violeut  spirit  was  daily  more  and  more 
hunied  on  by  the  diminution  of  his  patrimony,  and  by  his 
consciousness  of  guilt ;  both  which  evils  he  had  increased  by 
those  practices  which  I  have  mentioned  above.  The  corrupt 
morals  of  the  state,  too,  which  extravagance  and  selfishness, 
pernicious  and  contending  vices,  rendered  thoroughly  depraved,47 
furnished  him  with  additional  incentives  to  action. 

Since  the  occasion  has  thus  brought  public  morals  under  my 
notice,  the  subject  itself  seems  to  call  upon  me  to  look  back, 
and  briefly  to  describe  the  conduct  of  our  ancestors48  in  peace 
and  war ;  how  they  managed  the  state,  and  how  powerful  they 
left  it ;  and  how,  by  gradual  alteration,  it  became,  from  being 
the  most  virtuous,  the  most  vicious  and  depraved. 

VI.  Of  the  city  of  Rome,  as  I  understand,49  the  founders  and 
earliest  inhabitants  were  the  Trojans,  who,  under  the  conduct 
of  ^Eneas,  were  wandering  about  as  exiles  from  their  country, 
without  any  settled  abode ;  and  with  these  were  joined  the 
Aborigines,60  a  savage  race  of  men,  without  laws  or  govern- 
ment, free,  and  owning  no  control.  How  easily  these  two  tribes, 
though  of  different  origin,  dissimilar  language,  and  opposite 
habits  of  life,  formed  a  union  when  they  met  within  the  same 
walls,  is  almost  incredible."  But  when  their  state,  from  an 
accession  of  population  and  territory,  and  an  improved  condi- 
tion of  morals,  showed  itself  tolerably  flourishing  and  powerful, 

dpminatio,  " dictatorship."     Kose,  Gordon,  and  others,  render  it  "usurpa- 
tion." 
40  Power]  Eeanum.    Chief  authority,  rule,  dominion. 

47  Rendered  thoroughly  depraved]  Vexabant.   "  Corrumpere  et  pessundnre 
studebant."  Bernouf.     Quos  vexalant,  be  it  observed,  refers  to  nwre*,  as 
Gerhich  and  Kritz  Interpret,  not  to  ciees  understood  incivitatis,  which  is  the 
evidently  erroneous  method  of  Cortius. 

48  Conduct  ot' our  ancestors]  Instltata  majorum.     The  principles  adopted 
by  our  ancestors,  with  regard  both  to  their  own  conduct,  and  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  state.    That  this  is  the  meaning,  is  evident  from  the  follow- 
ing account. 

48  VI.  As  I  understand]  Sicut  ego  accepi.  "  By  these  words  he  plainly 
shows  that  nothing  certain  was  known  about  the  origin  of  Rome.  The  re;  d 
cr  may  consult  Livy,  lib.  i. ;  Justin,  lib.  xliii. ;  and  Dionys.  Halicar.,  lib. 
i. ;  all  of  whom  attribute  its  rise  to  the  Trojans."  Bernouf. 

60  Aborigines]  Akrrigines.  The  original  inhabitants  of  Italy ;  the  same 
as  indiqena;,  or  the  Greek  'AvroxBovf f. 

51  Almost  incredible]  Incredibile  memoratu.  "  Non  credi  potest,  si  memo- 
ratur;  snperat  omnem  fidem."  Pappaur.  Yet  that  which  actually  happen- 
ed, can  not  be  absolutely  incredible ;  and  I  have,  therefore,  inserted  almost. 


1 2  SALLUST. 

envy,  as  is  generally  the  case  in  human  affairs,  was  the  r,oi: se- 
quence of  its  prosperity.  The  neighboring  kings  and  people, 
accordingly,  began  to  assail  them  in  war,  while  a  few  only  of 
their  friends  came  to  their  support ;  for  the  rest,  struck  with 
alarm,  shrunk  from  sharing  their  dangers.  But  the  Roman?, 
active  at  homo  and  in  the  field,  prepared  with  alacrity  for  their 
defense."  They  encouraged  one  another,  and  hurried  to  meet 
the  enemy.  They  protected,  with  their  arms,  their  liberty, 
their  country,  and  their  homes.  And  when  they  had  at  length 
repelled  danger  by  valor,  they  lent  assistance  to  their  allies  and 
supporters,  and  procured  friendships  rather  by  bestowing63  fa- 
vors than  by  receiving  them. 

They  had  a  government  regulated  by  laws.  The  denomina- 
tion of  their  government  was  monarchy.  Chosen  men,  whose 
bodies  might  be  enfeebled  by  years,  but  whose  minds  were 
vigorous  in  understanding,  formed  the  council  of  the  state  ;  and 
these,  whether  from  their  age,  or  from  the  similarity  of  their 
duty,  were  called  FATHERS."  But  afterward,  when  the  mon- 
archical power,  which  had  been  originally  established  for  the 
protection  of  liberty,  and  for  the  promotion  of  the  public  in- 
terest, had  degenerated  into  tyranny  and  oppression,  they 
changed  their  plan,  and  appointed  two  magistrates,"  with 
power  only  annual ;  for  they  conceived  that,  by  this  method, 
the  human  mind  would  be  least  likely  to  grow  overbearing 
for  want  of  control. 

VII.  At  this  period  every  citizen  began  to  seek  distinction, 
and  to  display  his  talents  with  greater  freedom  ;  for,  with 
princes,  the  meritorious  are  greater  objects  of  suspicion  than  the 
undeserving,  and  to  them  the  worth  of  others  is  a  source  of 

M  Prepared  with  alacrity  for  their  defense]  Festinare,  parare.  "Made 
haste,  prepared."  "  Intenti  ut  festinanter  pararent  ea,  quse  defensioni  aut 
bello  usui  essent."  Pappaur. 

53  Procured  friendships  rather  by  bestowing,  etc.]  Magiaque  dandle,  qvam 
accipundis  beneficiis  amicitias  parabant.  Thucyd.  ii.,  40 :  'On  •nu.axovreq  Iv, 
u)C^u  dpuvTff,  KTu/teOa  rot)f  <j>iXovf. 

w  FATHEKS]  PATRKS.  "  (Romulus)  appointed  that  the  direction  of  the 
state  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  old  men,  who,  from  their  authority, 
were  called  Fathers  ;  from  their  age,  Senatm."  Florus,  i.  1.  Senatus  from 
senex.  "  Patres  ab  honore — appellati."  Livy. 

55  Two  magistrates]  Binox  imperatores.  The  two  consuls.  Thev  were 
more  properly  called  ^mperatores  at  first,  when  the  law,  which  settled  their 
power,  said  "  Regio  imperio  duo  sunto"  (Cic.  de  Legg.  iii.  4),  than  after- 
ward, when  the  people  and  tribunes  had  made  encroachments  on  their  au- 
thority. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  13 

alarm.  But  when  liberty  was  secured,  it  is  almost  incredible™ 
how  much  the  state  strengthened  itself  in  a  short  space  of 
time,  so  strong  a  passion  for  distinction  had  pervaded  it.  Now, 
for  the  first  time,  the  youth,  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  boar 
the  toil  of  war,"  acquired  military  skill  by  actual  service  in  the 
camp,  and  took  pleasure  rather  in  splendid  arms  and  military 
steeds  than  in  the  society  of  mistresses  and  Convivial  indul- 
gence. To  such  men  no  toil  was  unusual,  no  place  was  diffi- 
cult or  inaccessible,  no  armed  enemy  was  formidable  ;  their 
valor  had  overcome  every  thing.  But  among  themselves  the 
grand  rivalry  was  for  glory ;  each  sought  to  be  first  to  wound 
an  enemy,  to  scale  a  wall,  and  to  be  noticed  while  performing 
such  an  exploit.  Distinction  such  as  this  they  regarded  as 
wealth,  honor,  and  true  nobility.68  They  were  covetous  of 
praise,  but  liberal  of  money ;  they  desired  competent  riches 
but  boundless  glory.  I  could  mention,  but  that  the  account 
would  draw  me  too  far  from  my  subject,  places  in  which  the 
Roman  people,  with  a  small  body  of  men,  routed  vast  armies  of 
the  enemy ;  and  cities,  which,  though  fortified  .by  nature,  they 
carried  by  assault. 

VIII.  But,  assuredly,  Fortune  rules  in  all  things.  She  makes 
every  thing  famous  or  obscure  rather  from  caprice  than  in  con- 
formity with  truth.  The  exploits  of  the  Athenians,  as  far  as  I 
can  judge,  were  very  great  and  glorious/8  something  inferior 
to  what  fame  has  represented  them.  But  because  writers  of 
great  talent  flourished  there,  the  actions  of  the  Athenians  are 
celebrated  over  the  world  as  the  most  splendid  achievements. 
Thus,  the  merit  of  those  who  have  acted  is  estimated  at  the 
highest  point  to  which  illustrious  intellects  could  exalt  it  in 
their  writings. 

But  among  the  Romans  there  was  never  any  such  abundance 
of  writers  ;e°  for,  with  them,  the  most  able  men  were  the  most 

M  VII.  Almost  incredible]  Ineredihile  memoratu.    See  above,  c.  6. 

57  Able  to  bear  the  toils  of  war]  Laboris  ac  belli  pattens.    As  by  laboris  the 
labor  of  war  is  evidently  intended.  I  have  thought  it  better  to  render  the 
words  in  this  manner.    The  reading  is  Cortius'.    Havercamp  and  others 
have  "simul  ac  belli  patiens  erat,  in  castris  per  laborem  usu  militiam  disce- 
bat;"  but  per  laborem  u-su  is  assuredly  not  the  hand  of  Sallust. 

58  Honor  and  true  nobility]  Bonam  famam  mfir/namque  nobilitatem. 

59  VIII.  Very  great  and  glorious]  Satis  amplcu  magnificcEqite.     In  speak- 
ing of  this  amplification  of  the  Athenian  exploits,  he  alludes,  as  Colerus  ob- 
serves, to  the  Histories  of  Thncydides,  Xenophen,  and  perhaps  Herodotus  ; 
not,  as  Wasse  seems  to  imagine,  to  the  representations  of  the  poets. 

•°  There  was  never  any  such  abundance  of  writers]  Nunquam  ea  copia 


1 4  SALLUST. 

actively  employed.  No  one  exercised  the  mind  independently 
of  the  body :  every  man  of  ability  chose  to  act  rather  Ihmi 
narrate,"  and  was  more  desirous  that  his  own  merits  should  be 
celebrated  by  others,  than  that  he  himself  should  record  fhehs. 

IX.  Good  morals,  accordingly,  were  cultivated  in  the  cily 
and  in  the  camp.     There  was  the  greatest  possible  concord,  and 
the  least  possibly  avarice.   Justice  and  probity  prevailed  among 
the  citizens,  not  more  from  the  influence  of  the  laws  than  from 
natural   inclination.     They  displayed   animosity,   enmity,   and 
resentment  only  against  the  enemy.     Citizens  contended  with 
citizens  in  nothing  but  honor.     They  were  magnificent  in  their 
religious  services,  frugal  in  their  families,  and  steady  in  their 
friendships. 

By  these  two  virtues,  intrepidity  in  war,  and  equity  in  peace, 
they  maintained  themselves  and  their  state.  Of  their  exercise 
of  which  virtues,  I  consider  these  as  the  greatest  proofs ;  that, 
in  war,  punishment  was  oftener  inflicted  on  those  who  attacked 
an  enemy  contrary  to  orders,  and  who,  when  commanded  to 
retreat,  retired  too  slowly  from  the  contest,  than  on  those  who 
had  dared  to  desert  their  standards,  or,  when  pressed  by  the 
enemy,88  to  abandon  their  posts ;  and  that,  in  peace,  they 
governed  more  by  conferring  benefits  than  by  exciting  terror, 
and,  when  they  received  an  injury,  chose  rather  to  pardon  than 
to  revenge  it. 

X.  But  when,  by  perseverance  and  integrity,  the  republic  had 
increased  its  power ;  when  mighty  princes  had  been  vanquished 
in  war  ;03  when  barbarous  tribes  and  populous  states  had  been 
reduced  to  subjection ;   when  Carthage,  the  rival   of  Rome's 
dominion,  had  been  utterly  destroyed,  and  sea  and  land  lay 

fuit.  I  follow  Knlmliardt,  who  thinks  c&pia  equivalent  to  multiludo.  Others 
render  it  adeantage,  or  something  similar ;  which  seems  less  applicable  to 
the  passage.  Compare  c.  28:  Latroms — quorum — inagna  copia  erat. 

61  Chose  to  act  rather  than  narrate]  "  For,"  as  Cicero  says,  "  neither 
among  those  who  are  engaged  in  establishing  a  state,  nor  among  those 
carrying  on  wars,  nor  among  those  who  are  curbed  and  restrained  under 
the  rule  of  kings,  is  the  desire  of  distinction  in  eloquence  wont  to  arise." 
Graswinckelius. 

c2  IX.  Pressed  by  the  enemv]  Pulsi.  In  the  words  pulsi  loco  cedf.re  ausi 
erantl  loco  is  to  be  joined,  as  Dietsch  observes,  with  ceaere,  not,  as  Kritzius 
puts  it,  with  puln.  "To  retreat,'1  adds  Dietsch,  "  is  disgraceful  only  to 
those  qui  ab  nostibus  sepelli  patiantur,  who  suffer  themselves  to  be  repulsed 
ly  the  enemy.'1'1 

63  X.  When  mighty  princes  had  been  vanquished  in  war]  Person,  Anti- 
ochus,  Mithridates,  Tigranes,  and  others. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  15 

every  where  open  to  her  sway,  Fortune  then  began  to  exercise 
her  tyranny,  and  to  introduce  universal  innovation.  To  those 
who  had  easily  endured  toils,  dangers,  and  doubtful  and  difficult 
circumstances,  ease  and  wealth,  the  objects  of  desire  to  others, 
became  a  burden  and  a  trouble.  At  first  the  love  of  money, 
and  then  that  of  power,  began  to  prevail,  and  these  became, 
as  it  were,  the  sources  of  every  evil.  For  avarice  subverted 
honesty,  integrity,  and  other  honorable  principles,  and,  in 
their  stead,  inculcated  pride,  inhumanity,  contempt  of  reli- 
gion, and  general  venality.  Ambition  prompted  many  to 
become  deceitful  ;  to  keep  one  thing  concealed  in  the  breast, 
and  another  ready  on  the  tongue  ;64  to  estimate  friendships 
and  enmities,  not  by  their  worth,  but  according  to  interest; 
and  to  carry  rather  a  specious  countenance  than  an  honest 
heart.  These  vices  at  first  advanced  but  slowly,  and  were 
sometimes  restrained  by  correction  ;  but  afterward,  when 
their  infection  had  spread  like  a  pestilence,  the  state  was 
entirely  changed,  and  the  government,  from  being  the  most 
equitable  and  praiseworthy,  became  rapacious  and  insupport- 
able. 

XL  At  first,  however,  it  was  ambition,  rather  than  avarice," 
that  influenced  the  minds  of  men  ;  a  vice  which  approaches 
nearer  to  virtue  than  the  other.  For  of  glory,  honor,  and 
power,  the  worthy  is  as  desirous  as  the  worthless;  but  the 

64  To  keep  one  tiling  concealed  in  the  breast,  and  another  ready  on  the 
tongue]  Aliud  clausum  in  pectore,  aliud  in  lingua  promptum,  Jiabere. 


yap  fioi  Kelvo£  6//<2>f  'AtJao  Trvhgaiv 
"Of  %'  erepov  fj.iv  KevOsi,  ivt  Qpeaiv,  uA/lo  6i!  fiu&t- 

II.,  ix.  313. 

"Who  dares  think  one  thing,  and  another  tell, 
My  heart  detests  him  as  the  gates  of  hell.  Pope. 

«5  XI.  At  first,  however,  it  was  ambition,  rather  than  avarice,  etc.]  Sed 
primo  may  is  ambitw  quam  avaritia  animos  hominum  exercebat.  Sallust  has 
been  accused  of  having  made,  in  this  passage,  an  assertion  at  variance  witii 
what  he  had  said  before  (c.  10),  Igttur  primb  pecunite,  deinde  imperil  cupido, 
crevit,  and  it  will  be  hard  to  prove  that  the  accusation  is  not  just.  Sir  H. 
Steuart,  indeed,  endeavors  to  reconcile  the  passages  by  giving  them  the 
following  "  meaning,"  which,  he  says,  "seems  perfectly  evident:"  "Al- 
though avarice  was  the  first  to  make  its  appearance  at  Rome,  yet,  after  botii 
had  had  existence,  it  was  ambition  that,  of  the  two  vices,  laid  the  stronger 
hold  on  the  minds  of  men,  and  more  speedily  grew  to  an  inordinate 
height."  To  me,  however,  it  "  seems  perfectly  evident"  that  the  Latin 
can  be  made  to  yield  no  such  "  meaning.  "  How  these  passages  agree," 
says  Rupertus,  "I  do  not  understand:  unless  we  suppose  that  Sallust,  by 
th«  word  primct,  does  not  always  signify  order." 


1 0  SALLUST. 

one  pursues  them  by  just  methods ;  the  other,  being  destitute 
of  honorable  qualities,  works  with  fraud  and  deceit.  But 
avarice  has  merely  money  for  its  object,  which  no  wise  man  has 
ever  immoderately  desired.  It  is  a  vice  which,  as  if  imbued 
with  deadly  poison,  enervates  .whatever  is  manly  in  body  or 
mind.66  It  is  always  unbounded  and  insatiable,  and  is  abated 
neither  by  abundance  nor  by  want. 

But  after  Lucius  Sylla,  having  recovered  the  government" 
by  force  of  arms,  proceeded,  after  a  fair  commencement,  to  a 
pernicious  termination,  all  became  robbers  and  plunderers  ;6i 
some  set  their  affections  on  houses,  others  on  lands ;  his  vic- 
torious troops  knew  neither  restraint  nor  moderation,  but  in- 
flicted on  the  citizens  disgraceful  and  inhuman  outrages. 
Their  rapacity  was  increased  by  the  circumstance  that  Sylla, 
in  order  to  secure  the  attachment  of  the  forces  which  he  had 
commanded  in  Asia,6'  had  treated  them,  contrary  to  the  prac- 
tice of  our  ancestors,  with  extraordinary  indulgence,  and  ex- 
emption from  discipline ;  and  pleasant  and  luxurious  quarters 
had  easily,  during  seasons  of  idleness,  enervated  the  minds  of 
the  soldiery.  Then  the  armies  of  the  Roman  people  first 
became  habituated  to  licentiousness  and  intemperance,  and 
began  to  admire  statues,  pictures,  and  sculptured  vases ;  to 
seize  such  objects  alike  in  public  edifices  and  private  dwell- 
ings ;'°  to  spoil  temples ;  and  to  cast  off  respect  for  every  thing, 
sacred  and  profane.  Such  troops,  accordingly,  when  once 

88  Enervates  whatever  is  manly  in  body  or  mind]  Corpus  mrilemnue  ani- 
mum  effmminat.  That  avarice  weakens  the  mind,  is  generally  admitted. 
But  how  does  it  weaken  the  body  ?  The  most  satisfactory  answer  to  this 
question  is,  in  the  opinion  of  Aulus  Gellius  (iii.  1),  that  that  those  who  are 
intent  on  getting  riches  devote  themselves  to  sedentary  pursuits,  as  tho.se 
of  usurers  and  money-changers,  neglecting  all  such  exercises  and  employ- 
ments as  strengthen  the  body.  There  is,  "however,  another  explanation  by 
Valerius  Probus,  given  in  the  same  chapter  of  Aulus  Gellius,  which  per- 
haps is  the  true  one ;  namely,  that  Sallust,  by  body  and  mind,  intended 
merely  to  signify  the  whole  man. 

87  Having  recovered  the  government]  Recepta,  republics.  Having  wrested 
it  from  the  hands  of  Marius  and  his  party. 

68  All  became  robbers  and  plunderers]  Rapere  omnes,  trahere.  He  means 
that  there  was  a  general  indulgence  in  plunder  among  Sylla's  party,  and 
among  all  who,  in  whatever  character,  could  profit  by  supporting  it.  Thus 
he  says  immediately  afterward,  "neque  modum  neque  modestiain  victores 
habere." 

«9  Which  he  had  commanded  in  Asia]  Quern  in  ASM  ductaverat.  I  have 
here  deserted  Cortius,  who  gives  in  Asiam,  "  into  Asia,"  but  this,  as  Ber- 
nouf  justly  observes,  is  incompatible  with  the  frequentative  verb  ductaverat. 

78  in  public  edifices  and  private  dwellings]  Pnaatim  ac  public*}.  I  have 
translated  this  according  to  the  notion  of  Bernouf.  Others,  as  Dietsch  and 


CONSPIRACY  OP  CATILINE.  17 

they  obtained  the  mastery,  left  nothing  to  be  vanquished. 
Success  unsettles  the  principles  even  of  the  wise,  and  scarcely 
would  those  of  debauched  habits  use  victory  with  moderation. 

XIL  When  wealth  was  once  considered  an  honor,  and 
glory,  authority,  and  power  attended  on  it,  virtue  lost  her  in- 
fluence, poverty  was  thought  a  disgrace,  and  a  life  of  inno- 
cence was  regarded  as  a  life  of  ill-nature.71  From  the  influence 
of  riches,  accordingly,  luxury,  avarice,  and  pride  prevailed 
among  the  youth ;  they  grew  at  once  rapacious  and  prodigal ; 
they  undervalued  what  was  their  own,  and  coveted  what  was 
another's ;  they  set  at  naught  modesty  and  continence  ;  they 
lost  all  distinction  between  sacred  and  profane,  and  threw  off 
all  consideration  and  self-restraint. 

It  furnishes  much  matter  for  reflection,"  after  viewing  our 
modern  mansions  and  villas  extended  to  the  size  of  cities,  to 
contemplate  the  temples  which  our  ancestors,  a  most  devout 
race  of  men,  erected  to  the  gods.  But  our  forefathers  adorned 
the  fanes  of  the  deities  with  devotion,  and  their  homes  with 
their  own  glory,  and  took  nothing  from  those  whom  they  con- 
quered but  the  power  of  doing  harm ;  their  descendants,  on  the 
contrary,  the  basest  of  mankind,73  have  even  wrested  from  their 
allies,  with  the  most  flagrant  injustice,  whatever  their  brave  and 
victorious  ancestors  had  left  to  their  vanquished  enemies ;  as  if 
the  only  use  of  power  were  to  inflict  injury. 

XTTT.  For  why  should  I  mention  those  displays  of  extrava- 
gance, which  can  be  believed  by  none  but  those  who  have  seen 
them ;  as  that  mountains  have  been  leveled,  and  seas  covered 
with  edifices,14  by  many  private  citizens ;  men  whom  I  consider 

Pappaur,  consider  privatim  as  signifying  each  on  his  own  account,  and  pub- 
lice,  in  the  name  of  the  Reptillic. 

71  XII.  A  life  of  innocence  was  regarded  ns  a  life  of  ill-nature]  Innocentla 
pro  malivolentid  duel  ctepit.     "  Whoever  continued  honest  and  upright,  was 
considered  by  the  unprincipled  around  him  as  their  enemy ;  for  a  good, 
man  among  the  bad  cun  never  be  regarded  as  of  their  party."  Bernouf. 

72  It  furnishes  much  matter  for  reflection]  Opera,  pretium  est. 

73  Basest  of  mankind]  Ignavissumi  rrwrtales.     It  is  opposed  to  fortissumi 
viri,  which  follows,  "  Qui  nee  fortitcr  nee  bene  quidquom  fecere.       Cortius. 

74  XIII.  Seas  covered  with  edifices]  Maria  constructs,  esse. 

Contracta  pisces  sequora  seutiuut, 

Jactis  in  awum  moltbus,  etc.  Hor.  Od.,  iii.  1. 

The  haughty  lord,  who  lays 

His  deep  foundations  in  the  seas, 

And  scorns  earth's  narrow  bound ; 
The  fish  affrighted  feel  their  waves 
Contracted  by  his  numerous  slaves, 

Even  in  the  vast  profound.  Francis. 


18  SALLUST. 

to  have  made  a  sport  of  their  wealth,16  since  they  were  im- 
patient to  squander  disreputably  what  they  might  have  enjoyed 
with  honor. 

But  the  love  of  irregular  gratification,  open  debauchery,  and 
all  kinds  of  luxury,"'"  had  spread  abroad  with  no  less  force. 
Men  forgot  their  sex ;  women  threw  off  all  the  restraints  of 
modesty.  To  gratify  appetite,  they  sought  for  every  kind  of 
production  by  land  and  by  sea ;  they  slept  before  there  was  any 
inclination  for  sleep ;  they  no  longer  waited  to  feel  hunger, 
thirst,  cold,"  or  fatigue,  but  anticipated  them  all  by  luxurious 
indulgence.  Such  propensities  drove  the  youth,  when  their 
patrimonies  were  exhausted,  to  criminal  practices ;  for  their 
minds,  impregnated  with  evil  habits,  could  not  easily  abstain 
from  gratifying  their  passions,  and  were  thus  the  more  inordi- 
nately devoted  in  every  way  to  rapacity  and  extravagance. 

XIV.  In  so  populous  and  so  corrupt  a  city,  Catiline,  as  it  war, 
very  easy  to  do,  kept  about  him,  like  a  body-guard,  crowds  of 
the  unprincipled  and  desperate.  For  all  those  shameless,  liber- 
tine, and  profligate  characters,  who  had  dissipated  their  patri- 
monies by  gaming,78  luxury,  and  sensuality ;  all  who  had 
contracted  heavy  debts,  to  purchase  immunity  for  their  crimes 
or  offenses ;  all  assassins73  or  sacrilegious  persons  from  every 
quarter,  convicted  or  dreading  conviction  for  their  evil  deeds ; 
all,  besides,  whom  their  tongue  or  their  hand  maintained  by 
perjury  or  civil  bloodshed ;  all,  in  fine,  whom  wickedness, 
poverty,  or  a  guilty  conscience  disquieted,  were  the  associates 

75  To  have  made  a  sport  of  their  wealth]  Quibus  mild  videntur  ludibrio 
fuisse  divitlce.     "  They  spent  their  riehes  on  objects  which,  iu  the  judgment 
of  men  of  sense,  are  ridiculous  and  contemptible."     Cortius. 

76  Luxury]  Cultus.    "Deliciarum  in  vletu,  luxuries  of  the  table ;  for  we 
must  be  careful  not  to  suppose  that  apparel  is  meant."  Cortius. 

77  Cold]  Frigus.     It  is  mentioned  by  Cortius  that  this  word  is  wanting  in 
one  MS. ;  and  the  English  reader  may  possibly  wish  that  it  were  away  al- 
together.    Cortius  refers  it  to  cool  places  built  of  stone,  sometimes  under- 
ground, to  which  the  luxurious  retired  in  the  hot  weather ;  and  he  cites 
Pliny,  Ep.,  v.  6,  who  speaks  of  a  crytoporiicus,  &  gallery  from  which  the  sun 
was  excluded,  almost  as  if  it  were  underground,  and  which  even  in  summer 
was  cold  nearly  to  freezing.     Ho  also  refers  to  Ambros.,  Epist.  xii.,  and 
Casaubon.  ad  Spartian.  Adrian.,  c.  x.,  p.  87. 

78  XIV.  Gamins]  Man.u.  Gerlach,  Dietsch,  Kritzius,  and  all  the  recent 
editors,  agree  to  interpret  mann  by  gaming. 

™  Assassins]  Parricidce.  "  Not  only  ho  who  had  killed  his  father  was 
called  &  parricide,  but  he  who  had  killed  any  man  ;  as  is  evident  from  a  law 
of  Numa  Pompilius :  If  anyone  unlawfully  and  knowingly  bring  a  freo 
man  to  death,  let  him  be  a  parricide."  Festus  sub  voce  Par-rid. 


CONSPIRACY  OP  CATILINE.  10 

and  intimate  friends  of  Catiline.  And  if  any*  one,  as  yet  of  un- 
blemished character,  fcjll  into  his  society,  he  was  presently 
rendered,  by  daily  intercourse  and  temptation,  similar  and  equal 
to  the  rest.  But  it  was  the  young  whose  acquaintance  he 
chiefly  courted  ;  as  their  minds,  ductile  and  unsettled  from  their 
nge,  were  easily  insnared  by  his  stratagems.  For  as  the  passions 
cf  each,  according  to  his  years,  appeared  excited,  he  furnished 
^mistresses  to  some,  bought  horses  and  dogs  for  others,  and 
spared,  in  a  word,  neither  his  purse  nor  his  character,  if  he  could 
but  make  them  his  devoted  and  trustworthy  supporters.  There 
were  some.  I  know,  who  thought  that  the  youth,  who  frequented 
the  house  of  Catiline,  were  guilty  of  crimes  against  nature ;  but 
this  report  arose  rather  from  other  causes  than  from  any  evi- 
dence of  the  fact.80 

XV.  Catiline,  in  his  youth,  had  been  guilty  of  many  criminal 
connections,  with  a  virgin  of  noble  birth,81  with  a  priestess  of 
Vesta,83  and  of  many  other  offenses  of  this  nature,  in  defiance 
alike  of  law  and  religion.  At  last,  when  he  was  smitten  with  a 
passion  for  Aurelia  Orestilla,93  in  whom  no  good  man,  at  any 
time  of  her  life,  commended  any  thing  but  her  beauty,  it  is 
confidently  believed  that  because  she  hesitated  to  marry  him, 
from  the  dread  of  having  a  grown-up  step-son,"  he  cleared  the 

80  Than  from  any  evidence  of  the  fact]  Quctm  quM,  cuiquam  id  wnipertum 
foret. 

81  XV.  With  a  virgin  of  noble  birth]  Cum  virgine  nobtti.     Who  this  was 
is  not  known.    The  name  may  have  been  suppressed  from  respect  to  her 
family.     If -what  is  found  in  a  fragment  of  Cicero  be  true,  Catiline  had  an 
illicit"  connection  with  some  female,  and  afterward  married  the  daughter 
•who  was  the  fruit  of  the  connection :  Ez  eoilem  stu-pro  tt  njcorem  etjiliam  in- 
venhti-  Oral,  in  Tog.  Cand.  (Oration  xvi.,  Ernesti's  edit.)     On  which  worda 
Ascomus  Pcdianus  makes  this  comment:  "Dieitur  Catilinam  adulterium 
commisisse  cum  ea  quse  ei  postea  socrus  fuit,  et  ex  eo  stupro  duxisse  nx- 
orem,  cum  filia  ejus  e.~set.     HiecLucceius  quoque  Catilinse  objecit  in  ora- 
tionibus,  quas  in  eum  scripsit.     Nomina  harum  mulierum  nondum  inveni." 
Plutarch,  too  (Life  of  Cicero,  c.  10),  says  that  Catiline  was  accused  of  hav- 
ing corrupted  his  own  daughter. 

*•">•  With  a  priestess  of  Vesta]  Cum  sacerdote  Vestas.  This  priestess  of 
Vesta  was  Fabia  Terentia,  sister  to  Terentia,  Cicero's  wife,  whom  Sallust, 
after  she  was  divorced  by  Cicero,  married.  Clodius  accused  her,  but  she 
was  acquitted,  either  because  she  was  thought  innocent,  or  because  the  in- 
terest of  Catulus  and  others,  who  exerted  themselves  in  her  favor,  procured 
her  acquittal.  See  Orosius,  ri.  3 ;  the  Oration  of  Cicero,  quoted  in  the  pre- 
ccding  note  ;  and  Aseonius's  commentary  on  it. 

t3  Aurelia  Orestilla]  See  c.  35.  She  was  the  sister  or  daughter,  as  De 
Brosscs  thinks,  of  Cneins  Aurelius  Orestis,  who  had  been  praetor,  A.U.C.  677. 

«•»  A  grown-up  step-son]  Privvjnum  adultd  estate,  A  son  of  Catiline's  by 
a  former  marriage. 


20  SALLUST. 

house  for  their  nuptials  by  putting  his  son  to  death.  And  this 
crime  appears  to  me  to  have  been  the  chief  cause  of  hurrying 
forward  the  conspiracy.  For  his  guilty  mind,  at  peace  with 
neither  gods  nor  men,  found  no  comfort  either  waking  or  sleep- 
ing ;  so  effectually  did  conscience  desolate  his  tortured  spirit." 
His  complexion,  in  consequence,  was  pale,  his  eyes  haggard,  his 
.  walk  sometimes  quick  and  sometimes  slow,  and  distraction  was 
plainly  apparent  in  every  feature  and  look. 

XVI.  The  young  men,  whom,  as  I  said  before,  he  had  en- 
ticed to  join  him,  he  initiated,  by  various  methods,  in  evil  prac- 
tices. From  among  them  he  furnished  false  witnesses,86  and. 
forgers  of  signatures ;  and  he  taught  them  all  to  regard,  witli 
equal  unconcern,  honor,  property,  and  danger.  At  length,  when 
he  had  stripped  them  of  all  character  and  shame,  he  led  them 
to  other  and  greater  enormities.  If  a  motive  for  crime  did  not 
readily  occur,  he  incited  them,  nevertheless,  to  circumvent  and 
murder  inoffensive  persons,87  just  as  if  they  had  injured  him  ; 
for,  lest  their  hand  or  heart  should  grow  torpid  for  want  of  em- 
ployment, he  chose  to  be  gratuitously  wicked  and  cruel. 

Depending  on  such  accomplices  and  adherents,  and  knowing 
that  the  load  of  debt  was  every  where  great,  and  that  the  vete- 
rans of  Sylla,88  having  spent  their  money  too  liberally,  and  re- 
membering their  spoils  and  former  victory,  were  longing  for  a 
civil  war,  Catiline  formed  the  design  of  overthrowing  the  gov- 
ernment. There  was  no  army  in  Italy ;  Pompey  was  fighting 
in  a  distant  part  of  the  world  ;89  he  himself  had  great  hopes  of 

88  Desolate  his  tortured  spirit]  Mentem  exciteam  vaxtabat.  "Conscience 
desolates  the  mind,  when  it  deprives  it  of  its  proper  power  and  tranquillity, 
and  introduces  into  it  perpetual  disquietude.  Cortius.  Many  editions  havu 
vexabat. 

116  XVI.  He  furnished  false  witnesses,  etc.]  Test/is  siynatoresque  falsov 
commodare.  "If  any  one  wanted  any  such  character,  Catiline  was  ready  to 
supply  him  from  among  his  troop."  Bernouf. 

*7'  Inoffensive  persons,  etc.]  Insontes,  sicuti  sontes.  Most  translators  have 
Tendered  these  words  "  innocent"  and  "guilty,"  terms  which  suggest  noth- 
ing satisfactory  to  the  English  reader.  The  inxontes  are  those  who  had 
given  Catiline  no  cause  of  offense ;  the  sontes  those  who  had  in  some  wny 
incurred  his  displeasure,  or  become  objects  of  his  rapacity. 

88  Veterans  or  Sylla,  etc.]  Elsewhere  called  the  colonists  of  Sylla ;  men 
to  whom  Sylla  had  given  large  tracts  of  land  as  rewards  for  their  services, 
but  who.  having  lived  extravagantly,  had  fallen  into  such  debt  and  distress, 
that,  as  Cicero  said,  nothing  could  relieve  them  but  the  resurrection  of  Sylla 
from  the  dead.  Cic.  ii.  Orat.  in  Cat. 

*•  Pompey  was  fighting  in  a  distant  part  of  the  world]  In  extremis  terris. 
Pompey  was  then  conducting  the  war  against  Mitnridates  and  Tigranes,  ia 
Pontus  and  Armenia. 


CONSPIRACY  OP  CATILINE.  21 

obtaining  the  consulship  ;  the  senate  was  wholly  off  its  guard  ;*' 
every  thing  was  quiet  and  tranquil ;  and  all  these  circumstances 
were  exceedingly  favorable  for  Catiline. 

XVII.  Accordingly,  about  the  beginning  of  June,  in  the  con- 
sulship of  Lucius  Caesar91  and  Caius  Figulus,  he  at  first  addressed 
each  of  his  accomplices  separately,  encouraged  some,  and 
sounded  others,  and  informed  them  of  his  own  resources,  of  the 
unprepared  condition  of  the  state,  and  of  the  great  prizes  to  bo 
expected  from  the  conspiracy.  When  he  had  ascertained,  to 
his  satisfaction,  all  that  he  required,  he  summoned  all  whose 
necessities  were  the  most  urgent,  and  whose  spirits  were  the 
inost  daring,  to  a  general  conference. 

At  that  meeting  there  were  present,  of  senatorial  rank,  Pub- 
lius  Lentulus  Sura,93  Publius  Autroiiius,0'  Lucius  Cassius  Lon- 
ginus,94  Caius  Cethegus,"5  Publius  and  Servius  Sylla98  the  sons 


90  The  senate  was  wholly  off  its  guard]  Senatus  nihtt  sane  intentus.    The 
senate  was  regardless,  and  unsuspicious  of  any  danger. 

91  XVII.  Lucius  Caesar]  He  was  a  relation  of  Julius  Caesar;  and  his  sis- 
ter was  the  wife  of  M.  Antonius,  the  orator,  and  mother  of  Mark  Antony, 
the  triumvir. 

«  Publius  Lentulus  Sura]  He  was  of  the  same  family  with  Sylla,  that  of 
the  Cornelii.  He  hud  filled  the  office  of  consul,  but  his  conduct  had  been 
afterward  so  profligate,  that  the  censors  expelled  him  from  the  senate.  To 
enable  him  to  resume  his  seat,  he  had  obtained,  as  a  qualification,  the  office 
of  praetor,  which  he  held  at  the  time  of  the  conspiracy.  He  was  called  Su- 
ra, because,  when  he  had  squandered  the  public  money  in  his  quaestorship, 
and  was  called  to  account  by  Sylla  for  his  dishonesty,  he  declined  to  make 
any  defense,  but  said,  "  I  present  you  the  calf  of  my  leg  (sura) ;"  alluding 
to  a  custom  among  boys  playing  at  ball,  of  inflicting  a  certain  number  of 
strokes  on  the  leg  of  an  unsuccessful  player.  Plutarch,  Life  of  Cicero,  c. 

93  Publius  Autronius]  He  had  been  a  companion  of  Cicero  in  Ms  boy- 
hood, and  his  colleague  in  the  qusestorship.  He  was  banished  in  the  year 
after  the  conspiracy,  together  with  Cassius,  La?ca,  Vargunteius,  Servius 
Sylla,  and  Caius  Cornelius,  under  the  Plautian  law.  De  Brasses. 

•*  Lucius  Cassius  Longinus]  He  had  been  a  competitor  with  Cicero  for 
the  consulship.  Ascon.  Ped.  in  Cic.  Orat.  in  Tog.  Cand.  His  corpulence  was 
such  that  Cassius's  fat  (Cassii  adeps)  became  proverbial.  Cic.  Orat.  in 
Cutil.,  iii.  7. 

95  Caius  Cethegus]  He  also  was  one  of  the  Cornelian  family.  In  the  civil 
wars,  says  De  Brasses,  he  had  first  taken  the  side  of  Marius,  and  afterward 
that  of  Sylla.  Both  Cicero  (Orat.  in  Catil.,  ii.  7)  and  Sallust  describe  him 
as  fiery  and  rash. 

98  Publius  and  Servius  Sylla]  These  were  nephews  of  Sylla  the  dictator. 
Publius,  though  present  on  this  occasion,  seems  not  to  ha've  joined  in  the 
plot,  since,  when  ne  was  afterward  accusea  of  having  been  a  conspirator,  ho 
was  defended  by  Cicero  and  acquitted.  See  Cic.  Orat.  pro  P.  Sylla.  lie 
was  afterward  with  Caesar  in  the  buttle  of  Pharsalia.  Caes.  de  'B.  C.,  iii. 
89. 


22  SALLUST. 

of  Servius  Sylla,  Lucius  Vargunteius97  Quintus  Annius,98  Marcus 
Porcius  Laeca,89  Lucius  Bestia,1  Quintus  Curius ;'  and,  of  tho 
equestrian  order,  Marcus  Fulvius  Nobilior,'  Lucius  Statilius,* 
Publius  Gabinius  Capito, '  Caius  Cornelius ;'  with  many  from 
the  colonies  and  municipal  towns,7  persons  of  consequence  in 
their  own  localities.  There  were  many  others,  too,  among  the 
nobility,  concerned  in  the  plot,  but  less  openly ;  men  whom 
the  hope  of  power,  rather  than  poverty  or  any  other  exigence, 
prompted  to  join  in  the  affair.  But  most  of  the  young  men, 
and  especially  the  sons  of  the  nobility,  favored  the  schemes  of 
Catiline  ;  they  who  had  abundant  means  of  living  at  ease,  either 
splendidly  or  voluptuously,  preferred  uncertainties  to  certainties, 
war  to  peace.  There  were  some,  also,  at  that  time,  who  be- 
lieved that  Marcus  Licinius  Crassus8  was  not  unacquainted  with 
the  conspiracy  ;  because  Cneius  Pompey,  whom  he  hated,  was 

87  Lucius  Vargunteius]  "  Of  him  or  his  family  little  is  known.     Ho  had 
been,  before  this  period,  accused  of  bribery,  and  defended  by  Hortenaius. 
Cic.  pro  P.  Sylla,  c.  2."  Jiernouf. 

88  Quintus  Aiming]  He  is  thought  by  De_  Brosses  to  have  been  the  same 
Annius  that  cut  otf  the  head  of  M.  Antonius  the  orator,  and  curried  it  to 
Marius.    Plutarch,  Vit.  Marii.  c.  44. 

99  Marcus  Porcius  Laeca]  lie  was  one  of  the  same  gens  with  the  Cntou.es, 
but  of  a  different  family. 

1  Lucius  Bestia]  Of  the  Calpurnian  gens.  lie  escaped  death  on  the  dis- 
covery of  the  conspiracy,  and  was  afterward  aedile,  and  candidate  for  the 
practorship,  but  was  driven  into  exile  for  bribery.  Being  recalled  by  Caesar, 
no  became  candidate  for  the  consulship,  but  was  unsuccessful.  I)e  Brosses. 

a  Quintus  Curius]  He  was  a  descendant  of  M.  Curius  Deutatus,  the  op- 
ponent of  Pyrrhus.  He  was  so  notorious  as  a  gamester  and  a  profligate, 
that  he  was  removed  from  the  senate,  A.U.C.  083.  See  c.  23.  As  he  had 
been  the  first  to  give  information  of  the  conspiracy  to  Cicero,  public  honors 
•were  decreed  him,  but  he  was  deprived  of  them  by  the  influence  of  Caesar, 
whom  he  had  named  as  one  of  the  conspirators.  Sueton.  Caes.  17 ;  Appian. 
De  Bell.  Civ.,  lib.  ii. 

3  M.  Fulvius  Nobilior]   "  Ho  was  not  put  to  death,  but  exiled,  A.TJ.O. 
699.    Cic.  ad  Att.  iv.,  16."  Bernouf. 

4  Lucius  Statilius]  of  him  nothing  more  is  known  than  is  told  by  Sallust. 

•  Publius  Gabinius  Capito]  Cicero,  instead  of  Capito.  calls  him  Cimber. 
Orat.  in  Cat.,  iii.  3.    The  family  was  originally  from  Gabii. 

•  Caius  Cornelius)  There  were  two  branches  of  the  gens  Cornelia,  one  pa- 
trician, the  other  plebeian,  from  which  sprung  this  conspirator. 

7  Municipal  towns]  Municipiis.  "  The  municipia,  were  towns  of  which 
the  inhabitants  were  admitted  to  the  rights  of  Roman  citizens,  but  which 
were  allowed  to  govern  themselves  by  their  own  laws,  and  to  choose  their 
own  magistrates.  See  Aul.  Gell.,  xvi.  13 ;  Beaufort,  Kcp.  Rom.,  vol.  v." 
Eernouf. 

•  Marcus  Licinius  Crassus]  The  same  who,  with  Pompey  and  Caesar, 
formed  the  first  triumvirate,  and  who  was  afterward  killed  in  his  expedition 
against  the  Parthiuns.     He  had,  before  the  time  of  the  conspiracy,  held  the 
offices  of  praetor  and  consul. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  23 

at  the  head  of  a  large  army,  and  he  was  willing  that  the  power 
of  any  one  whomsoever  should  raise  itself  against  Pompey's  in- 
fluence ;  trusting,  at  the  same  time,  that  if  the  plot  should  suc- 
ceed, he  would  easily  place  himself  at  the  head  of  the  conspira- 
tors. 

XVIII.  But  previously9  to  this  period,  a  small  number  of 
persons,  among  whom  was  Catiline,  had  formed  a  design  against 
the  state  :  of  which  affair  I  shall  here  give  as  accurate  account 
as  I  am  able. 

Under  the  consulship  of  Lucius  Tullus  and  Marcus  Lepidus, 
Publius  Autronius  and  Publius  Sylla,10  having  been  tried  for 
bribery  under  the  laws  against  it,11  had  paid  the  penalty  of  the 
offense.  Shortly  after  Catiline,  being  brought  to  trial  for  ex- 
tortion,12 had  been  prevented  from  standing  for  the  consulship, 
because  he  had  been  unable  to  declare  himself  a  candidate  with- 
in the  legitimate  number  of  days.13  There  was  at  that  time, 

9  XVIII.  But  previously,  etc.]  Sallust  here  makes  a  digression,  to  give  an 
account  of  a  conspiracy  that  was  formed  three  years  before  that  of  Catiline. 

10  Publius  Autronius  and  Publius  Sylla]  The  same  who  are  mentioned  in 
the  preceding  chapter.    They  were  consuls  elect,  and  some  editions  have 
the  words  dedgnati  consules.  immediately  following  their  names. 

11  Having  been  tried  for  bribery  under  the  laws  against  it]  Legtt/us  am- 
bitus interrogati.     Bribery  at  their  election,  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  am- 
litus,  for  ambire,  as  Cortius  observes,  is  circumeundo  Javorem  et  siffrayia 
qu&rere.     De  Brosses  translates  the  passage  thus  :  "Autrone  et  Sylla,  con- 
vaincus  d'avoir  pbtemi  le  cousulat  par  corruption  des  suffrages,  avaieut  etc 
minis  selon  la  rigueur  de  la  loi."    There  were  several  very  severe  Roman 
laws  against  bribery.     Autronius  and  Sylla  were  both  excluded  from  tlit 
consulship. 

«  For  extortion]  Pecuniarum  repetundarum.  Catiline  had  been  prsetor 
in  Africa,  and,  at  the  expiration  of  his  office,  was  accused  of  extortion  by 
Publius  Clodius,  on  the  part  of  the  Africans.  He  escaped  by  bribing  the 
prosecutor  and  jud_re?. 

13  To  declare  himself  a  candidate  within  the  legitimate  number  of  days] 
Prohibitus  erat  con.itilatum  pztere,  quod  irdra  legitimos  dies  projiteri  (se  can- 
didatum,  says  Cortius,  citing  Suet.  Aug.  4)  neqmverit.  A  person  could  not 
be  a  candidate  for  the  consulship,  unless  he  could  declare  himself  free  from 
accusation  within  a  certain  number  of  days  before  the  time  of  holding  the 
comit'ia,  cent/iri'.ifa.  That  number  of  days  was  trinundinum  spatium,  that  is, 
the  time  occupied  by  three  market-davs,  tree  nundince,  with  seven  days  in- 
,  tervening  between  the  first  and  second,  and  between  the  second  and  third  ; 
or  seventeen  days.  The  nundina  (from  novem  and  dies)  were  held,  as  it  is 
commonly  expressed,  every  ninth  day  ;  whence  Cortius  and  others  consid- 
ered trinundinum  spatium  to  be  twenty-seven,  or  even  thirty  days  ;  but  this 
way  of  reckoning  was  not  that  of  the  Romans,  who  made  the  last  day  of 
the  first  ennead  to  be  also  the  first  day  of  the  second.  Concerning  the  nun' 
dinae  see  Macrob.,  Sat.  i.  16.  "  Mftller  and  Lon^ins  most  erroneously  sup- 
posed the  trinundinum  to  be  about  thirty  days  ;  for  thr.t  it  embraced  only 
seventeen  days  has  been  fully  shown  bv'Ernesti.  Clav.  Cic..  snb  voce  ;  by 
Scheller  in  Lex.  Amp].,  p.  11/669  ;  by  Xitschius  Antiquitt.  Romm.  i.  p.  623 ; 
and  by  Drachenborch  (cited  by  Gerlach)  ad  Liv.  iii.  35."  A'ri!:. 


24  SALLUST. 

too,  a  young  patrician  of  the  most  daring  spirit,  needy  and  dis- 
contented, named  Cneius  Pi  so,14  whom  poverty  and  vicious 
principles  instigated  to  disturb  the  government.  Catiline  and 
Autronius,16  having  concerted  measures  with  this  Piso,  prepared 
to  assassinate  the  consuls,  Lucius  Cotta  and  Lucius  Torquatus, 
in  the  Capitol,  on  the  first  of  January,"  when  they,  having 
seized  on  the  fasces,  were  to  send  Piso  with  an  army  to  take 
possession  of  the  two  Spains."  But  their  design  being  dis- 
covered, they  postponed  the  assassination  to  the  fifth  of  Febru- 
ary ;  when  they  meditated  the  destruction,  not  of  the  consuls 
only,  but  of  most  of  the  senate.  And  had  not  Catiline,  who 
was  in  front  of  the  senate-house,  been  too  hasty  to  give  the 
singal  to  his  associates,  there  would  that  day  have  been  perpe- 
trated the  most  atrocious  outrage  since  the  city  of  Rome  was 
founded.  But  as  the  armed  conspirators  had  not  yet  assem- 
bled in  sufficient  numbers,  the  want  of  force  frustrated  the  de- 
sign. 

XIX.  Some  time  afterward,  Piso  was  sent  as  quaestor,  with 
Praetorian  authority,  into  Hither  Spain  ;  Crassus  promoting  the 
appointment,  because  he  knew  him  to  be  a  bitter  enemy  to 
Cueius  Pompey.  Nor  were  the  senate,  indeed,  unwilling18  to 
grant  him  the  province ;  for  they  wished  so  infamous  a  charac- 
ter to  be  removed  from  the  seat  of  government ;  and  many 
worthy  men,  at  the  same  time,  thought  that  there  was  some 
security  in  him  against  the  power  of  Pompey,  which  was  then 
becoming  formidable.  But  this  Piso,  on  his  march  toward  his 
province,  was  murdered  by  some  Spanish  cavalry  whom  he  had 
in  his  army.  These  barbarians,  as  some  say,  had  been  unable 

14  Cneius  Piso]  Of  the  Calpurnian  gens.   Suetonius  (Vit.  Cses.,  c.  9)  men- 
tions three  authors  who  related  that  Crassus  and  Caesar  were  both  con- 
cerned in  this  plot;   and  that,  if  it  had  succeeded,  Crassus  was  to  have 
assumed  the  dictatorship,  and  made  Caesar  his  master  of  the  horse.    Tho 
conspiracy,  as  these  writers  state,  failed  through  the  remorse  or  irresolution 
of  Crassus. 

15  Catiline  and  Autronins]  After  these  two  names,  in  Havercamp's  and 
many  other  editions,  follow  the  words  circiter  nonas  Decemltres,  i.  e.,  about 
the  fifth  of  December. 

19  On  the  first  of  January]  Kalendis  Jwn.u9.rii*.  On  this  day  the  consuls 
were  accustomed  to  enter  on  their  office.  The  consuls  whom  thejr  were  going 
to  kill,  Cotta  and  Torquatus,  were  those  who  hud  been  chosen  in  the  place 
of  Autronius  and  Sylla. 

17  The  two  Spains]  Hither  and  Thither  Spain.  JJispania  Citerwr  and 
Ulterior,  as  they  were  called  by  the  Komans. 

1M  XIX.  Nor  were  the  senate,  indeed,  unwilling,  etc.]  See  Dio  Cass. 
xxxvi.  27. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  25 

to  endure  his  unjust,  haughty,  and.  cruel  orders ;  but  others  as- 
sert that  this  body  of  cavalry,  being  old  and  trusty  adherents  of 
Pompey,  attacked  Piso  at  his  instigation;  since  the  Spaniards, 
they  observed,  had  never  before  committed  such  an  outrage,  but 
had  patiently  submitted  to  many  severe  commands.  This  ques- 
tion we  shall  leave  undecided.  Of  the  first  conspiracy  enough 
has  been  said. 

XX.  When  Catiline  saw  those,  whom  I  have  just  above  men- 
tioned,10 assembled,  though  he  had  often  discussed  many  points 
with  them  singly,  yet  thinking  it  would  be  to  his  purpose  to 
address  and  exhort  them  in  a  body,  retired  with  them  into  a 
private  apartment  of  his  house,  where,  when  all  witnesses  were 
withdrawn,  he  harangued  them  to  the  following  effect : 

"  If  your  courage  and  fidelity  had  not  been  -sufficiently  proved 
by  me,  this  favorable  opportunity"0  would  have  occurred  to  no 
purpose ;  mighty  hopes,  absolute  power,  would  in  vain  be  with- 
in our  grasp ;  nor  should  I,  depending  on  irresolution  or  fickle- 
mindedness,  pursue  contingencies  instead  of  certainties.  But 
as  I  have,  on  many  remarkable  occasions,  experienced  your 
bravery  and  attachment  to  me,  I  have  ventured  to  engage  in  a 
most  important  and  glorious  enterprise.  I  am  aware,  too,  that 
whatever  advantages  or  evils  affect  you,  the  same  affect  me ; 
and  to  have  the  same  desires  and  the  same  aversions,  is  assured- 
ly a  firm  bond  of  friendship. 

"What  I  have  been  meditating  you  have  already  heard 
separately.  But  my  ardor  for  action  is  daily  more  and  more 
excited,  when  I  consider  what  our  future  condition  of  life  must 
be,  unless  we  ourselves  assert  our  claims  to  liberty ."  For  since 
the  government  has  fallen  under  the  power  and  jurisdiction  of 
a  few,  kings  and  princes2"  have  constantly  been  their  tributaries  ; 

19  XX.  Just  above  mentioned]     In  c.  17. 

*o  Favorable  opportunity]   O-pportuna  res.    Seethe!".',  sr  part  of  c.  16. 

!1  Assert  our  claims  to  liberty]  Nosmet  ipsi  vindicamus  in  libertatem. 
Unless  we  vindicate  ourselves  iiito  liberty.  See  below,  "  En  ilia,  ilia,  quam 
saepe  optastis,  libertas,"  etc. 

22  Kings  and  princes]  lieges  tetrarchae.  Tetrarchs  were  properly  those 
who  had  the  government  of  the  fourth  part  of  the  country ;  but  at  length, 
the  signification  of  the  word  being  extended,  it  was  applied  to  any  gov- 
ernors of  any  country  who  were  possessed  of  supreme  authority,  and  yet 
were  not» acknowledged  as  kings  by  the,  Romans.  See  Hirt.  Bell.  Alex.  c. 
67  :  Deiotarus,  at  that  time  Mrarch  of  almost  all  Gallogrs?cia,  a  supremacy 
which  the  other  tetrarchs  would  not  allow  to  be  granted  him  either  by  the, 
Luvs  or  by  custom,  but  indisputably  acknowledged  as  king  of  Armenia 
Minor  by  the  senate,"  etc.  Dietsch.  "  Hesycliius  has,  Terpa^^Of,  /3<wrt/,etr- 

2 


26  SALLUST. 

nations  and  states  have  paid  them  taxes  ;  but  all  the  rest  of  us, 
however  brave  and  worthy,  whether  noble  or  plebeian,  have 
been  regarded  as  a  mere  mob,  without  interest  or  authority,  and 
subject  to  those,  to  whom,  if  the  state  were  in  a  sound  condi- 
tion, we  should  be  a  terror.  Hence,  all  influence,  power,  honor, 
and  wealth,  are  in  their  hands,  or  where  they  dispose  of  them ; 
to  us  they  have  left  only  insults,33  dangers,  persecutions,  and 
poverty.  To  such  indignities,  O  bravest  of  men,  how  long  will 
you  submit  ?  Is  it  not  better  to  die  in  a  glorious  attempt,  than, 
after  having  been  the  sport  of  other  men's  insolence,  to  resign  a 
wretched  and  degraded  existence  with  ignominy  ? 

"  But  success  (I  call  gods  and  men  to  witness  !)  is  in  our 
own  hands.  Our  years  are  fresh,  our  spirit  is  unbroken  ;  among 
our  oppressors,  on  the  contrary,  through  age  and  wealth  a 
general  debility  lias  been  produced.  We  have  therefore  only 
to  make  a  beginning;  the  course  of  events24  will  accomplish 
the  rest. 

"  Who  in  the  world,  indeed,  that  has  the  feelings  of  a  man, 
can  endure  that  they  should  have  a  superfluity  of  riches,  to 
squander  in  building  over  seas26  and  leveling  mountains,  and 
that  means  should  be  wanting  to  us  even  for  the  necessaries  of 
life ;  that  they  should  join  together  two  houses  or  more,  and 
and  that  we  should  not  have  a  hearth  to  call  our  own  ?  They, 
though  they  purchase  pictures,  statues,  and  embossed  plate  ;"B 
though  they  pull  down  new  buildings  and  erect  others,  and 
lavish  and  abuse  their  wealth  in  every  possible  method,  yet  can 
not,  with  the  utmost  efforts  of  caprice,  exhaust  it.  But  for  us 
there  is  poverty  at  home,  debts  abroad ;  our  present  circum- 

See  Isidor.,  ix.  3 ;  Alex.  ab.  Alex.,  ii.  17."  Cokrus.  "  Cicero,  Phil.  II.,  speaks 
of  Eeges  Tetrarchas  Dynastasque.  And  Lucan  has  (vii.  46)  Tretrarchaj 
regesque  tenent,  magnique  tyraimi."  Wasse.  Horace  ulso  says, 

Modo  reges  atque  tetrarehas, 

Omnia  magua  loquens. 

I  have,  with  Rose,  rendered  the  word  princes,  as  being  the  most  eligible 
term. 

23  Insults]  Repvlsas.     Repulses  in  standing  for  office. 

21  The  course  of  events,  etc.]  Ccetera  res  expediet. — "  Of.  Cic.  Ep.  Div.  xiii. 
26:  explicare  et  expedire  negatm."  Gerlach. 

25  Building  over  seas]  See  c.  13. 

2(1  Embossed  plate]  Toreumata.  The  same  as  vasa  ccelata,  sculptured  vases, 
c.  11.  Vessels  ornamented  in  bas-relief;  from  Topevew,  sculvere:  see  Bent- 
ley  ad  Hpr.  A.  P.,  441.  " Perbona  toreumata,  in  Lis  y*x;ula  duo,''  etc.  Cio. 
in  Vcrr.  iv.  18. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  27 

stances  are  bad,  our  prospects  much  worse ;  and  what,  in  a 
word,  have  we  left,  but  a  miserable  existence  ? 

"  Will  you  not,  then,  awake  to  action  ?  Behold  that  liberty, 
that  liberty  for  which  you  have  so  often  wished,  with  wealth, 
honor,  and  glory,  are  set  before  your  eyes.  All  these  prizes 
fortune  offers  to  the  victorious.  Let  the  enterprise  itself,  then, 
let  the  opportunity,  let  your  poverty,  your  dangers,  and  the 
glorious  spoils  of  war,  animate  you  far  more  than  my  words. 
Use  me  either  as  your  leader  or  your  fellow-soldier ;  neither  my 
heart  nor  my  hand  shall  be  wanting  to  you.  These  objects  I 
hope  to  effect,  in  concert  with  you,  in  the  character  of  consul ; 
unless,  iudeed,  my  expectation  deceives  me,  and  you  prefer  to 
be  slaves  rather  than  masters." 

XXL  When  these  men,  surrounded  with  numberless  evils, 
but  without  any  resources  or  hopes  of  good,  had  heard  this  ad- 
dress, though  they  thought  it  much  for  their  advantage  to  dis- 
turb the  public  tranquillity,  yet  most  of  them  called  on  Catiline 
to  state  on  what  terms  they  were  to  engage  in  the  contest ; 
what  benefits  they  were  to  expect  from  taking  up  arms ;  and 
what  support  and  encouragement  they  had,  and  in  what  quar- 
ters." Catiline  then  promised  them  the  abolition  of  their 
debts  ;28  a  proscription  of  the  wealthy  citizens  ;'2"  offices,  sacer- 
dotal dignities,  plunder,  and  all  other  gratifications  which  war, 
and  the  license  of  conquerors,  can  afford.  lie  added  that  Piso 
was  in  Hither  Spain,  and  Publius  Sittius  Nucerinus  with  an 
army  in  Mauritania,  both  of  whom  were  privy  to  his  plans ; 
that  Caius  Antonius,  whom  he  hoped  to  have  for  a  colleague, 
was  canvassing  for  the  consulship,  a  man  with  whom  he  was 
intimate,  and  who  was  involved  in  all  manner  of  embarrass- 
ments; and  that,  in  conjunction  with  him,  he  himself,  when 
consul,  would  commence  operations.  He,  moreover,  assailed 

y  XXI.  What  support  or  encouragement  they  had,  and  in  what  quarters] 
Quid  -ubiyue  apis  aut  spei  Jiaberent;  i.  e.  quid  opis  aut  spei,  et  ubi,  haberent. 
So  c.  27,  init.  <4uem  ubique  opportunuin  credebat,  i.  e.,  says  Cortius,  "  quern, 
;et  ubi  ttlum,  opp^ortunum  credebat." 

2«  Abolition  of  their  debts]  Tabulas  novas.  Debts  were  registered  on  tab- 
lets; and,  when  the  debts  were  paid,  the  score  was  eft'aced,  and  the  tablets 
were  ready  to  be  used  as  new.  See  Eruesti's  Clav.  in  Cic.  sub  voce. 

aa  Proscription  of  the  wealthy  citizens]  Proscriptionem  locupletiwn.  The 
practice  of  proscription  was  commenced  by  Sylla,  who  posted  up,  in  public 
places  of  the  city,  the  names  of  those  whom  he  doomed  to  death,  offering 
rewards  to  such  as  should  bring  him  their  heads.  Their  money  and  estates 
lie  divided  among  his  adherents,  and  Catiline  excited  his  adherents  with 
hopes  of  similar  plunder. 


28  SALLUST. 

'all  the  respectable  citizens  with  reproaches,  commended  each 
of  his  associates  by  name,  reminded  one  of  his  poverty,  another 
of  his  ruling  passion,30  several  others  of  their  danger  or  dis- 
grace, and  many  of  the  spoils  which  they  had  obtained  by  the 
victory  of  Sylla.  When  he  saw  their  spirits  sufficiently  elevat- 
ed, he  charged  them  to  attend  to  his  interest  at  the  election  of 
consuls,  and  dismissed  the  assembly. 

XXII.  There  were  some,  at  that  time,  who  said  that  Catiline, 
having  ended  his  speech,  and  wishing  to  bind  his  accomplices 
in  guilt  by  an  oath,  handed  round  among  them,  in  goblets,  the 
blood  of  a  human  body  mixed  with  wine  ;  and  that  when  all,  after 
an  imprecation,  had  tasted  of  it,  as  is  usual  in  sacred  rites,  he  dis- 
closed his  design  ;  and  they  asserted31  that  he  did  this,  in  order 
that  they  might  be  the  more  closely  attached  to  one  another, 
by  being  mutually  conscious  of  such   an  atrocity.     But  some 
thought  that  this  report,  and  many  others,  were  invented  by 
persons  who  supposed   that  the  odium   against  Cicero,  which 
afterward  arose,  might  be.  lessened  by  imputing  an  enormity 
of  guilt  to  the  conspirators  who  had  suffered  death.     The  evi- 
dence which  I  have  obtained,  in  support  of  this  charge,  is  not 
at  all  in  proportion  to  its  magnitude. 

XXIII.  Among  those  present  at  this  meeting  was  Quintus 
Curius,32  a  man  of  no  mean  family,  but  immersed  in  vices  and 
crimes,  and  whom  the  censors  had  ignomiiiiously  expelled  from 
the  senate.     In  this  person  there  was  not  less  levity  than  im- 
pudence ;  he  could  neither  keep  secret  what  he  heard,  nor  con- 
ceal his  own  crimes  ;  he   was  altogether  heedless  what  he  said 
or  what  he  did.     He  had  long  had  a  criminal  intercourse  with 
Fulvia,  a  woman  of  high  birth  ;  but  growing  less  acceptable  to 
her,  because,  in  his  reduced  circumstances,  he  had  less  means 

80  Another  of  hia  ruling  passion]  Admonebat — allum  cupidltatis  sua.  Eoso 
renders  this  passage,  "  Some  he  put  in  mind  of  their  poverty,  others  of  their 
amours."  De  Brosses  renders  it,  "II  rcniontrc  ;i  1'uii  sa  pauvrete,  a  1'autro 
son  ambition."  Ruling  passion,  however,  seems  to  be  the  proper  sense  of 
cupiditatis  ;  as  it  is  said,  in  c.  14,  "  As  the  passions  of  each,  according  to  his 
years,  appeared  excited,  he  furnished  mistresses  to  some,  bought  horses  and 
dogs  for  others,"  etc. 

31  XXII.  They  asserted]  Dictitare.  In  referring  this  word  to  the  circula- 
tors of  the  report,  I  follow  Cortius,  Gerlach,  Kritzius,  and  Eernouf.  Wassc, 
with  less  discrimination,  refers  it  to  Catiline.  This  story  of  the  drinking 
of  human  blood  is  copied  by  Floras,  iv.  1,  and  by  Plutarch  in  his  Life  of 
Cicero.  Dio  Cassius  (lib.  xxx'vii.)  eays  that  the  conspirators  were  rexXH  <et) 
to  have  killed  a  child  on  the  occasion. 
.  '•a  XXIII.  Q,uintus  Curius]  The  same  that  is  mentioned  in  c.  17. 


CONSPIRACY  OP  CATILINE.  29 

of  being  liberal,  he  began,  on  a  sudden,  to  boast,  and  to  promise 
her  seas  and  mountains  ;33  threatening  her,  at  times,  with  the 
sword,  if  she  were  not  submissive  to  his  will ;  and  acting,  in  his 
general  conduct,  with  greater  arrogance  than  ever.81  Fulvia, 
having  learned  the  cause  of  his  extravagant  behavior,  did  not 
keep  such  danger  to  the  state  a  secret ;  but,  without  naming 
her  informant,  communicated  to  several  persons  what  she  had 
heard  and  under  what  circumstances,  concerning  Catiline's  con- 
spiracy. This  intelligence  it  was  that  incited  the  feelings  of 
the  citizens  to  give  the  consulship  to  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero.35 
For  befove  this  period,  most  of  the  nobility  were  moved  with 
jealousy,  and  thought  the  consulship  in  some  degree  sullied,  if 
a  man  of  no  family,36  however  meritorious,  obtained  it.  But 
when  danger  showed  itself,  envy  and  pride  were  laid  aside. 

XXIV.  Accordingly,  when  the  comitia  were  held,  Marcus 
Tullius  and  Caius  Antonius  were  declared  consuls ;  an  event 
which  gave  the  first  shock  to  the  conspirators.  The  ardor  of 
Catiline,  however,  was  not  at  all  diminished ;  he  formed  every 
day  new  schemes ;  he  deposited  arms,  in  convenient  places, 
throughout  Italy  ;  he  sent  sums  of  money  borrowed  on  his  own 
credit,  or  that  of  his  friends,  to  a  certain  Manlius,37  at  Fa3sulae,sa 
who  was  subsequently  the  first  to  engage  in  hostilities.  At  this 
period,  too,  he  is  said  to  have  attached  to  his  cause  great  num- 
bers of  men  of  all  classes,  and  some  women,  who  had,  in  their* 
earlier  days,  supported  an  expensive  life  by  the  price  of  their 
beauty,  but  who,  when  age  had  lessened  their  gains  but  not 
their  extravagance,  had  contracted  heavy  debts.  By  the  in- 

S3  To  promise  her  seas  and  mountains]  Maria  mordesque  potticeri.  A  pn> 
verbial  expression.  Ter.  Phorm.,  i.  2,  18 :  Modo  non  mantes  a-uri  poUicens. 
Pers.,  iii.  65 :  Et  quid  opus  Crattro  magnos  promitttre  emontes. 

;;4  With  greater  arrogance  than  ever]  Fcrocius  quam  solitus  erat. 

35  To  Marcus  Tullius  Cicero]  Cicero  was  now  in  his  forty-third  year,  and 
had  filled  the  office  of  quaestor,  eclile,  and  praetor. 

36  A  man  of  no  family]  S&vus  homo.   A  term  applied  to  such  as  could  not 
boast  of  any  ancestor  that  had  held  any  curule  magistracy,  that  is,  had  been 
consul,  praetor,  censor,  or  chief  edile. 

*~  XXIV.  Manlius]  He  Lad  been  an  officer  in  the  army  of  Sylla,  and, 
having  been  distinguished  for  his  services,  had  been  placed  at  the  head  of 
a  colony  of  veterans  settled  about  Faesulse  •  but  he  nad  squandered  hia 
property  in  extravagance.  See  Plutarch,  Vit.  Cic.,  Dio  Cassius,  and  Ap- 
pian. 

38  Faesulae]  A  town  of  Etruria,  at  the  foot  of  the  Appennines,  not  far  from 
Florence.  It  is  the  Fesole  of  Milton : 

At  evening  from  the  top  of  Fesole, 

Or  in  Valdarno  to  descry  new  lands,  etc.   Par.  L.  i.  289. 


30  SALLUST. 


of  these  females,  Catiline  hoped  to  gain  over  the  slaves 
in  Jioinu,  to  get  the  eity  set  on  fire,  and  either  to  secure  the 
support  of  their  husbands  or  take  away  their  lives. 

XXV.  In  the  number  of  those  ladies  was  Sempronia,"  a 
woman  who  had  committed  many  crimes  with  the  spirit  of  a 
man.  In  birth  and  beauty,  in  her  husband  and  her  children, 
she  was  extremely  fortunate  ;  she  was  skilled  in  Greek  and  Ro- 
man literature  ;  she  could  sing,  play,  and  dance,40  with  greater 
elegance  than  became  a  woman  of  virtue,  and  possessed  many 
other  accomplishments  that  tend  to  excite  the  passions.  But 
nothing  was  ever  less  valued  by  her  than  honor  or  chastity. 
Whether  she  was  more  prorligal  of  her  money  or  her  reputa- 
tion, it  would  have  been  difficult  to  decide.  Her  desires  were 
so  ardent  that  she  oftener  made  advances  to  the  other  sex  than 
waited  for  solicitation.  She  had  frequently,  before  this  period, 
forfeited  her  word,  forsworn  debts,  been  privy  to  murder,  and 
hurried  into  the  utmost  excesses  by  her  extravagance  and 
poverty.  But  her  abilities  were  by  no  means  despicable  ;41  she 
could  compose  verses,  jest,  and  join  in  conversation  either  mod- 
est, tender,  or  licentious.  In  a  word,  she  was  distinguished42 
by  much  refinement  of  wit,  and  much  grace  of  expression. 

XXVI.  Catiline,  having  made  these  arrangements,  still  can- 
vassed for  the  consulship  for  the  following  year  ;  hoping  that, 
if  he  should  ba  elected,  he  would  easily  manage  Antonius  ac- 
cording to  his  pleasure.  Nor  did  lie,  in  the  mean  time  remain 
inactive,  but  devised  schemes,  in  every  possible  way,  against 
Cicero,  who,  however,  did  not  want  skill  or  policy  to  guard 
against  them.  For,  at  the  very  beginning  of  his  consulship,  he 
ha  1,  by  making  many  promises  through  Fulvia,  prevailed  o:\ 
Quintus  Curius,  whom  I  have  already  mentioned,  to  give  him 
secret  information  of  Catiline's  proceedings.  He  had  also  per- 
suaded his  colleague,  Autonius,  by  an  arrangement  respecting 

39  XXV.  Sempronia]  Of  the  same  gens  as  the  two  Gracchi.    She  was  the 
wife  of  Decimus  Brutus. 

40  Sing,  play,  and  dance]  Psallere,  saltare.   As  psallo  signifies  both  to  play  . 
on  a  musical  instrument,  and  to  sing  to  it  while  playing,  I  have  thought  it 
necessary  to  give  both  senses  in  the  translation. 

41  By  no  means  despicable]  Haad  absurdum.    Compare,  liene  dkere  Jiaud 
absurdum  est,  c.  3. 

45  She  was  distinguished,  etc.]  Multce  facetiae,  miiltwque  lepos  intrai. 
'Bothfacetia;  and  lepos  mean  "  agreeableness,  humor,  pleasantry;"  but  UJKIS 
here  seems  to  refer  to  diction,  as  in  Cic.  Orat.  i.  7  :  Mnynus  in  jocando 
lepos. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  31 

their  provinces,43  to  entertain  no  sentiment  of  disaffection  to- 
ward the  state  ;  and  he  kept  around  him,  though  without  os- 
tentation, a  guard  of  his  friends  and  dependents. 

When  the  day  of  the  comitia  came,  and  neither  Catiline's  ef- 
forts for  the  consulship,  nor  the  plots  which  he  had  laid  for  the 
consuls  in  the  Campus  Martius,44  were  attended  with  success,  he 
determined  to  proceed  to  war,  and  resort  to  the  utmost  extrem- 
ities, since  what  he  had  attempted  secretly  had  ended  in  con- 
fusion and  disgrace.45 

XXVII.  He  accordingly  dispatched  Caius  Manlius  to  Faesulae, 
and  the  adjacent  parts  of  Etruria ;  one  Septimius,  of  Cameri- 
num,48 into  the  Picenian  territory ;  Caius  Julius  into  Apulia ; 
and  others  to  various  places,  wherever  he  thought  each  would 
be  most  serviceable.47  He  himself,  in  the  mean  time,  was 
making  many  simultaneous  efforts  at  Rome ;  he  laid  plots  for 
the  consul ;  he  arranged  schemes  for  burning  the  city ;  he 

43  XXVI.  By  an  arrangement  respecting  their  provinces]  Pactione  pro- 
•cincice.    This  passage  has  been  absurdly  misrepresented  by  most  transla- 
tors, except  De  Brasses.    Even  Eose,  who  was  a  scholar,  translated  pactione 
pr&vincice,  "by  promising  a  province  to  his  colleague."     Plutarch,  in  his 
Life  of  Cicsro,  savs  that  the  two  provinces,  which  Cicero  and  his  colleague 
Antonius  shared  between  them,  were  Gaul  and  Macedonia,  and  that  Cicero, 
in  order  to  retain  Antonius  in  the  interest  of  the  senate,  exchanged  with 
him  Macedonia,  which  had  fallen  to  himself,  for  the  inferior  province  of 
Gaul.    Sec  Jug.,  c.  27. 

44  Plots  which  he  had  laid  for  the  consuls  in  the  Campus  Martius]  Insidias 
quas  consuli  in  campofecerat.     I  have  here  departed  from  the  text  of  Cortius, 
who  reads  consulibus,  thinking  that  Catiline,  in  his  rage,  might  have  extend- 
ed his  plots  even  to  the  consuls-elect.     But  consuli,  there  is  little  doubt,  is 
the  right  reading,  as  it  is  favored  by  what  is  said  at  the  beginning  of  the 
chapter,  insidias  paralat  Ciceroni,  by  what  folio ws  in  the  next  chapter,  con- 
sull insidias  tendere,  and  by  the  words,  sperans,  si  designatus  fvret,  facile  se 
ex  wluntate  Antonio  usurum  ;  for  if  Catihne  trusted  that  he  should  be  ablo 
to  use  his  pleasure  with  Antonius,  he  could  hardly  think  it  necessary  to 
form  plots  against  his  life.     I  have  De  Brosses  on  my  side,  who  translates 
the  phrase,  Us pieges  oh  il  compfM.it  faire  perir  le  consul.    The  words  in  campo. 
which  look  extremely  like  an  intruded  gloss,  I  wonder  that  Cortius  should 
have  retained.     "  Consuli^  Bays  Gerlacn,  "appears  the  more  eligible,  not 
only  on  account  of  consuli  insidias  tendere,  c.  27,  but  because  nothing  but 
the  death  of  Cicero  was  necessary  to  make  everything  favorable  for  Catihno." 
Kritzius,  Bernouf,  Dietsch,  Pappaur,  Allen,  and  all  the  modern  editors,  read 
Cunsuli.    See  also  the  end  of  c.  27 :  Si  prim  Cktronem  oppressisset. 

45  Had  ended  in  confusion  and  disgrace]  Aspera  foidaque  evenerant.    I 
have  borrowed  from  Murphv. 

48  XXVI  [.  Of  Camerinum]  Camertem.  "  That  is,  a  native  of  Camerinum, 
a  town  on  the  confines  of  Umbria  and  Picenum.  Hence  the  noun  Cawers, 
as  Cic.  Pro.  Syll.,  c.  19,  in  agro  Camerti.'"  Cortius. 

47  Wherever  he  thought  each  would  be  most  serviceable]  U~bi  quemqu« 
opportunum  credebat.  "  Proprie  reddas :  quern,  et  ubi  ilium,  opportunum 
credebat."  Cortius.  Sec  c.  23. 


32  SALLUST. 

occupied  suitable  posts  with  armed  men ;  he  went  constantly 
armed  himself,  and  ordered  his  followers  to  do  the  same ;  he 
exhorted  them  to  be  always  on  their  guard  and  prepared  for 
action ;  he  was  active  and  vigilant  by  day  and  by  night, 
and  was  exhausted  neither  by  sleeplessness  nor  by  toil.  At  last, 
however,  when  none  of  his  numerous  projects  succeeded,48  he 
again,  with  the  aid  of  Marcus  Porcius  Lseca,  convoked  the 
leaders  of  the  conspiracy  in  the  dead  of  night,  when,  after 
many  complaints  of  their  apathy,  he  informed  them  that  he 
had  sent  forward  Manlius  to  that  body  of  men  whom  he  had 
prepared  to  take  up  arms;  and  others  of  the  confederates  into 
other  eligible  places,  to  make  a  commencement  of  hostilities ; 
and  that  he  himself  was  eager  to  set  out  to  the  army,  if  he  could 
but  first  cut  off'  Cicero,  who  was  the  chief  obstruction  to  his 
measures. 

XXVIII.  While,  therefore,  the  rest  were  in  alarm  and  hesi- 
tation, Caius  Cornelius,  a  Roman  knight,  who  offered  his  services, 
and  Lucius  Vargunteius,  a  senator,  in  company  with  him,  agreed 
to  go  with  an  armed  force,  on  that  very  night,  and  with  but 
little  delay,49  to  the  house  of  Cicero,  under  pretense  of  paying 
their  respects  to  him,  and  to  kill  him  unawares,  and  unprepared 
for  defense,  in  his  own  residence.  But  Curius,  when  he  heard 
of  the  imminent  danger  that  threatened  the  consul,  immediately 
gave  him  notice,  by  the  agency  of  Fulvia,  of  the  treachery 
which  was  contemplated.  The  assassins,  in  consequence,  were 
refused  admission,  and  found  that  they  had  undertaken  such  an 
attempt  only  to  be  disappointed. 

In  the  mean  time,  Manlius  was  in  Etruria,  stirring  up  the 
populace,  who,  both  from  poverty,  and  from  resentment  for 
their  injuries  (for,  under  the  tyranny  of  Sylla,  they  had  lost 
their  lands  and  other  property),  were  eager  for  a  revolution, 
lie  also  attached  to  himself  all  sorts  of  marauders,  who  were 
numerous  in  those  parts,  and  some  of  Sylla's  colonists,  whose 
dissipation  and  extravagance  had  exhausted  their  enormous 
i  plunder. 

48  When  none  of  his  numerous  projects  succeeded]  ITbi  multa,  agitanti 
nikil  procedit. 

48  XXVIII.  On  that  very  night,  and  with  but  little  delay]  Ea  nocte,  paulo 
post.  They  resolved  on  going  soon  after  the  meeting  broke  up,  so  that  they 
might  reach  Cicero's  house  early  in  the  morning,  which  was  the  usual  tirno 
for  waiting  on  great  men.  Ingentem  forlbus  damus  aUa,  swperlis  Mane  salu- 
titntwm  t<ws  wmit  cedibus  undam.  Virg.  Georg.,  ii.  461. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  33 

X  XIX.  When  tlir*«  proceedings  were  reported  to  Cicero,  ho, 
being  alarmed  at  the  twofold  danger,  since  lie  could  no  longer 
secure  the  city  against  treachery  by  his  private  efforts,  nor  could 
gain  satisfactory  intelligence  of  the  magnitude  or  intentions  of 
the  army  of  Manlius,  laid  the  matter,  which  was  already  a  sub- 
ject of  discussion  among  the  people,  before  the  senate.  The 
senate,  accordingly,  as  is  usual  in  any  perilous  emergency, 
decreed  that  THE  CONSULS  SHOULD  MAKE  IT  THEIK  CARE  THAT 

THE    COMMONWEALTH    SHOULD    RECEIVE  NO  INJURY.       This  IS    the 

greatest  power  which,  according  to  the  practice  at  Rome,  is 
granted50  by  the  senate  to  the  magistrate,  and  which  authorizes 
him  to  raise  troops  ;  to  make  war  ;  to  assume  unlimited  control 
over  the  allies  and  the  citizens  ;  to  take  the  chief  command  and 
jurisdiction  at  home  and  in  the  field ;  rights  which,  without  an 
order  of  the  people,  the  consul  is  not  permitted  to  exercise. 

XXX.  A  few  days  afterward,  Lucius  Saenius,  a  senator,  read 
to  the  senate  a  letter,  which,  he  said,  he  had  received  from 
Faesulae,  and  in  which  it  was  stated  that  Caius  Manlius,  with  a 
large  force,  had  taken  the  field  by  the  27th  of  October." 
Others  at  the  same  time,  as  is  not  uncommon  in  such  a  crisis, 
spread  reports  of  omens  and  prodigies ;  others  of  meetings 
being  held,  of  arms  being  transported,  and  of  insurrections  of 
the  slaves  at  Capua  and  in  Apulia.  In  consequence  of  these 
rumors,  Quintus  Marcius  Rex"  was  dispatched,  by  a  decree  of 
the  senate,  to  Faesulae,  and  Quintus  Metellus  Creticus63  into 
Apulia  and  the  parts  adjacent ;  both  which  officers,  with  the 
title  of  commanders,04  were  waiting  near  the  city,  having  been 

50  XXIX.  This  is  the  greatest  power  which — is  granted,  etc.]  Ea  potestas 
per  senatum,  more  Romano,  magistratui  maxima  permittitur.  Cortius,  mira, 
judiciiperversitate,  as  Kritzius  observes,  makes  ea  the  ablative  case,  under- 
standing " decretione,"  "formula,"  or  some  such  word;  but,  happily,  no 
one  has  followed  him. 

si  XXX.  By  the  27th  of  October]  Ante  diem  VI.  Kalendas  N&vembres. 
He  means  that  the.v  were  in  arms  on  or  before  that  day. 

52  Quintus  Marcius  Rex]  He  had  been  proconsul  in  Cilicia,  and  was  ex- 
pecting a  triumph  for  his  successes. 

53  Quintus  Metellus  Creticus]  He  had  obtained  the  surname  of  Creticus 
from  having  reduced  the  island  of  Crete. 

54  Both  which  officers,  with  the  title  of  commanders,  etc.]  li  utrique  ad 
ttrbem  imperatores  erant ;  impediti  ne  triumpharent  calumnia  paucorum,  qid- 
bus  omnia  honesta  atque  inhonesta  venders  mos  erat.     "  Imperator"  was  a  title 
given  bv  the  army,  and  confirmed  by  the  senate,  to  a  victorious  general, 
who  had  slain  a  certain  number  of  the  enemy.     What  the  number  was  is 
not  known.    The  general  bore  this  title  as  an  addition  to  his  name,  until  ho 
obtained  (if  it  were  granted  him)  a  triumph,  for  which  be  was  obliged  to 

2* 


H4  SALLUST. 

prevented  from  entering  in  triumph,  by  the  malice  of  a  cabal, 
whose  custom  it  was  to  ask  a  price  for  every  tiling,  Avhctli<>r 
honorable  or  infamous.  The  praetors,  too,  Quintus  Pompeius 
Rufus,  and  Quintus  Metellus  Celer,  were  sent  off,  the  one  to 
<  '.quia,  the  other  to  Picenum,  and  power  was  given  them  to  l-vy 
a  force  proportioned  to  the  exigency  and  the  danger.  The  senate 
also  decreed,  that  if  any  one  should  give  information  of  the 
conspiracy  which  had  been  formed  against  the  state,  his  reward 
should  be,  if  a  slave,  his  freedom  and  a  hundred  sestertia ;  if  a 
freeman,  a  complete  pardon  and  two  hundred  sestertia".  They 
further  appointed  that  the  schools  of  gladiators'"  should  be  dis- 
tributed in  Capua  and  other  municipal  towns,  according  to  the 
capacity  of  each ;  and  that,  at  Rome,  watches  should  be  posted 
throughout  the  city,  of  which  the  inferior  magistrates"  should 
have  the  charge. 

XXXI.  By  such  proceedings  as  these  the  citizens  were  struck 
with  alarm,  and  the  appearance  of  the  city  was  changed.  In 
place  of  that  extreme  gayety  and  dissipation,68  to  which  long 
tranquillity59  had  given  rise,  a  sudden  gloom  spread  over  all 
classes ;  they  became  anxious  and  agitated ;  they  felt  secure 
neither  in  any  place,  nor  with  any  person ;  they  were  not  at 
war,  yet  enjoyed  no  peace ;  each  measured  the  public  danger 
by  his  own  fear.  The  women,  also,  to  whom,  from  the  extent 
of  the  empire,  the  dread  of  war  was  new,  gave  way  to  lamenta- 
tion, raised  supplicating  hands  to  heaven,  mourned  over  their 

•wait  ad  urfem,  near  the  city,  since  he  was  not  allowed  to  enter  the  gates  as 
long  as  he  held  any  military  command.  These  im/peratores  had  been  de- 
barred from  their  expected  honor  by  a  party  who  would  sell  any  thinglwnor- 
alle,  as  a  triumph,  or  any  thing  disJwnorallc,  as  a  license  to  violate  the  laws. 

65  A  hundred  sestertia — two  hundred  sestertia]  A  hundred  sestertia  were 
about  8071.  5s.  lOd.  of  our  money. 

M  Schools  of  gladiators]  Glaaiatontx,  families,.  Any  number  of  gladiators 
under  one  teacher,  or  trainer  (lanista),  was  called  familia.  They  were  to 
be  distributed  in  different  parts,  and  to  be  strictly  watched,  that  they  might 
not  run  off  to  join  Catiline.  See  Graswinckelius,  Kupertus,  and  Gerlach. 

61  The  inferior  magistrates]  The  sediles,  tribunes,  qasestors,  and  all  others 
below  the  consuls,  censors,  and  praetors.  Aul.  Gell.,  xiii.  15. 

68  XXXI.  Dissipation]  Lascivm.     "Devotion  to  public  amusements  and 
gayety.    The  word  is  used  in  the  same  sense  as  in  Lucretius,  v.  1398 : 
Turn  caput  atqne  humeros  plexis  redimire  coronis. 
Floribus  et  f'oliis,  lascivia  laeta  monebat. 

Then,  sportive  gayety  prompted  them  to  deck  their  heads  and  shoulders  with 
garlands  of  flower  it  and  leaves"  JBernouf. 

89  Long  tranquillity^  Diuturna  quies.  "  Since  the  victory  of  Sylla  to  the 
time  of  which  Sallust  IB  speaking,  that  is,  for  about  twenty  years,  there  had 
been  a  complete  cessation  from  civil  discord  and  disturbance."  Bernouf. 


Y  OF  CATILINE.  35 

infants,  made  constant  inquiries,  trembled  at  every  thing,  and, 
forgetting  their  pride  and  their  pleasures,  felt  nothing  but  alarm 
for  themselves  and  their  country. 

Yet  the  unrelenting  spirit  of  Catiline  persisted  in  the  same 
purposes,  notwithstanding  the  precautions  that  were  adopted 
against  him,  and  though  he  himself  was  accused  by  Lucius 
Paullus  under  the  Plautian  law.60  At  last,  with  a  view  to  dis- 
semble, and  under  pretense  of  clearing  his  character,  as  if  he 
had  been  provoked  by  some  attack,  he  went  into  the  senate- 
house.  It  was  then  that  Marcus  Tullius,  the  consul,  whether 
alarmed  at  his  presence,  or  fired  with  indignation  against  him, 
delivered  that  splendid  speech,  so  beneficial  to  the  republic, 
which  he  afterward  wrote  and  published.61 

When  Cicero  sat  down,  Catiline,  being  prepared  to  pretend 
ignorance  of  the  whole  matter,  entreated,  with  downcast  looks 
and  suppliant  voice,  that  "  the  Conscript  Fathers  would  not  too 
hastily  believe  any  thing  against  him ;"  saying  "  that  he  was 
sprung  from  such  a  family,  and  had  so  ordered  his  life  from  his 
youth,  as  to  have  every  happiness  in  prospect ;  and  that  they 
were  not  to  suppose  that  he,  a  patrician,  whose  services  to  the 
Roman  people,  as  well  as  those  of  his  ancestors,  had  been  so 
numerous,  should  want  to  ruin  the  state,  when  Marcus  Tullius, 
a  mere  adopted  citizen  of  Rome,"  was  eager  to  preserve  it." 
When  he  was  proceeding  to  add  other  invectives,  they  all  raised 
an  outer}-  against  him,  and  called  him  an  enemy  and  a 

««  The  riautian  law]  Lege  PlautiA.  "This  law  was  that  of  M.  Planting 
Silauus,  a  tribune  of  the  people,  which  was  directed  against  such  as  excited 
a  sedition  in  the  state,  or  formed  plots  against  the  life  of  any  individual." 
Cyprianus  Popma.  See  Dr.  Smith's  Diet,  of  Gr.  and  Koin.  Antiquities,  sub 
Vis. 

«  "VFhich  he  afterward  wrote  and  published]  Quampostea  scriptam  edidit. 
This  was  the  first  of  Cicero's  four  Orations  against  Catiline.  The  epithet 
applied  to  it  by  Sallust,  which  I  have  rendered  "  splendid,"  is  luculentam  ; 
that  is,  says  Gerlach,  '•  lumiuibus  verbornm  et  sententiarum  ornatam,"  dis- 
tinguished by  much  brilliancy  of  words  and  thoughts.  And  so  say  Krit- 
zius,  Bernouf,  and  Dietsch.  Cortius,  who  is  followed  by  Dahl,  Langius, 
and  Muller,  makes  the  word  equivalent  merely  to  lucid,  in  the  supposition 
that  Sallust  intended  to  bestow  on  the  speech,  as  on  other  performances  of 
Cicero,  only  very  cool  praise.  I/uffulentus,  however,  seems  certainly  to 
mean  something  more  than  lucidus. 

83  A  mere  adopted  citizen  of  Kome]  Inqutiimt*  civis  urUs  Roma.  "  Inqui- 
linus''  means  properly  a  lodger,  or  tenant  in  the  house  of  another.  Cicero 
was  born  at  Arpinum,  and  is  therefore  called  by  Catiline  a  citizen  of  Rome 
merely  by  adoption  or  by  sufferance.  Appian,  in  repeating  this  account 
(Bell.  Civ.,  ii.  104),  says,  'lyitoviMvov,  $  (ff)\na.ri  Ka?.ovai  rovf  tvoinovvTcif  iv 


36  SALLUST. 

traitor."  Being  thus  exasperated,  "  Since  I  am  encompassed  l>y 
enemies,"  he  exclaimed,64  "  and  driven  to  desperation,  I  will  ex- 
tinguish the  flame  kindled  around  me  in  a  general  ruin." 

XXXII.  He  then  hurried  from  the  senate  to  his  own  house  ; 
and  then,  after  much  reflection  with  himself,  thinking  that,  as 
his  plots  against  the  consul  had  been  unsuccessful,  and  as  he 
knew  the  city  to  be  secured  from  fire  by  the  watch,  his  best 
course  would  be  to  augment  his  army,  and  make  provision  for 
the  war  before  the  legions  could  be  raised,  he  set  out  in  the 
dead  of   night,  and  with  a  few   attendants,   to  the  camp  of 
Maulius.     But  he  left  in  charge  to  Lentulus  and  Cethegus,  and 
others   of   whose   prompt   determination   he   was    assured,  to 
strengthen  the  interests  of  their  party  in  every  possible  way,  to 
forward  the  plots  against  the  consul,  and  to  make  arrangements 
for  a  massacre,  for  firing  the  city,  and  for  other  destructive 
operations  of  war;  promising  that  he  himself  would  shortly 
advance  on  the  city  with  a  large  army.  . 

During  the  course  of  these  proceedings  at  Rome,  Caius  Man- 
lius  dispatched  some  of  his  followers  as  deputies  to  Quintus 
Marcius  Rex,  with  directions  to  address  him"  to  the  following 
effect : 

XXXIII.  "  We  call  gods  and  men  to  witness,  general,  that 
we  have  taken  up  arms  neither  to  injure  our  country,  nor  to 
occasion  peril  to  any  one,  but  to  defend  our  own  persons 
from  harm ;  who,  wretched  and  in  want,  have  been  deprived, 

63  Traitor]  Parricidam.  See  c.  14.  "«A.n  oppressor  or  betrayer  of  his 
country  is  justly  called  a  parricide  ;  for  our  country  is  the  common  parent 
of  all.  Cic.  ad  Attic."  Wasse. 

•4  Since  I  am  encompassed  by  enemies,  ho  exclaimed,  etc.]  "  It  was  not 
on  this  day,  nor  indeed  to  Cicero,  that  this  answer  was  made  by  Catilina. 
It  was  a  rep^ly  to  Cato,  uttered  a  few  days  before  the  comitia  for  electing 
consuls,  which  were  held  on  the  22d  day  of  October.  See  Cic.  pro  Mursene, 
c.  25.  Cicero's  speech  was  delivered  on  the  8th  of  November.  Sallust  is, 
therefore,  in  error  on  this  point,  as  well  as  Florus  and  Valerius  Maximus, 
who  have  followed  him."  Bernouf.  From  other  accounts  we  may  infer  that 
no  reply  was  made  to  Cicero  by  Oatiline  on  this  occasion.  Plutarch,  in  his 
Life  of  Cicero,  says  that  Catiline,  before  Cicero  rose,  seemed  desirous  to  ad- 
•  dress  the  senate  in  defense  of  his  proceedings,  but  that  the  senators  refused 
to  listen  to  him.  Of  any  answer  to  Cicero's  speech,  on  the  part  of  Catiline, 
lie  makes  no  mention.  Cicero  himself,  in  his  second  Oration  against  Cati- 
line, says  that  Catiline  could  not  endure  his  voice,  but,  when  he  was  ordered 
to  go  into  exile,  "  paruit,  quievit,"  obeyed  and  submitted  in  silence.  And  in 
his  Oration,  c.  37,  ne  says,  "  That  most  audacious  of  men,  Catiline,  when  he 
was  accused  by  me  in  the  senate,  was  dumb." 

05  XXXII.  "With  directions  to  addresg  him,  etc.]  Cum  mandatis  Tiujux- 
oemodi.  The  communication,  as  Cortius  observes,  was  not  an  epistle,  but  a 
verbal  message. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  3-7 

most  of  us,  of  our  homes,  and  all  of  us  of  our  character  and 
property,  by  the  oppression  and  cruelty  of  usurers ;  nor  has 
any  one  of  us  been  allowed,  according  to  the  usage  of  our 
ancestors,  to  have  the  benefit  of  the  law,06  or,  when  our  prop- 
erty was  lost  to  keep  our  persons  free.  Such  has  been  the 
inhumanity  of  the  usurers  and  of  the  prretor.67 

"  Often  have  your  forefathers,  taking  compassion  on  the 
commonalty  at  Rome,  reliered  their  distress  by  decrees  ;68  and 
very  lately,  within  our  own  memory,  silver,  by  reason  of  the 
pressure  of  debt,  and  with  the  consent  of  all  respectable 
citizens,  was  paid  with  brass.69 

"Often  too,  we  must  own,  have  the  commonalty  them- 
selves, driven  by  desire  of  power,  or  by  the  arrogance  of 
their  rulers,  seceded70  under  arms  from  the  patricians.  But  at 
power  or  wealth,  for  the  sake  of  which  wars,  and  all  kinds  of 
strife,  arise  among  mankind,  we  do  not  aim ;  we  desire  only 
our  liberty,  which  no  honorable  man  relinquishes  but  with 
life.  We  therefore  conjure  you  and  the  senate  to  befriend 
your  unhappy  fellow-citizens ;  to  restore  us  the  protection  of 
the  law,  which  the  injustice  of  the  praetor  has  taken  from  us ; 
and  not  to  lay  on  us  the  necessity  of  considering  how  we 
may  perish,  so  as  best  to  avenge  our  blood." 

XXXIV.  To  this  address  Quintus  Marcius  replied,  that, 
"if  they  wished  to  make  any  petition  to  the  senate,  they 

««  XXXIII.  To  have  the  benefit  of  the  law]  Lege  uti.  The  law  here 
meant  -was  the  Papirian  law,  by  which  it  was  provided,  contrary  to  the  old 
law  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  that  no  one  should  be  confined  in  prison  for  debt, 
and  that  the  property  of  the  debtor  only,  not  his  person,  should  be  liable 
for  what  he  owed.  Livy  (viii.  28)  relates  the  occurrence  which  gave  rise  to 
this  law,  and  says  that  it  ruptured  one  of  the  strongest  bonds  of  credit. 

67  The  praetor]  The  pj-cetor  urbanvs,  or  city  praetor,  who  decided  all 
causes  between  citizens,  and  passed  sentence  on  debtors. 

c-  Relieved  their  distress  by  decrees]  Decretis  suis  inopia  opitulati  sunt, 
In  allusion  to  the  laws  passed  at  various  times  for  diminishing  the  rate  of 
interest. 

«9  Silver — was  paid  with  brass]  Agentum  are  sdutum  est.  Thus  a  sester- 
<;''/.<;,  which  was  or  silver,  and  was  worth  four  asses,  was  paid  with  one  as, 
which  was  of  brass  ;  or  the  fourth  part  only  of  the  debt  was  paid.  See  Plin. 
H.  N.  xxxiii.  3  ;  and  Velleius  Paterculus,  5i.  23  ;  who  says,  quadrantem  solvi, 
that  a  quarter  of  their  debts  were  paid  by  the  debtors,  'by  a  law  of  Valerius 
Flaccus,  when  he  became  consul  on  the  death  of  Marius. 

70  Often — have  the  commonalty — seceded,  etc.]  "This  happened  three 
times  :  1.  To  the  Mons  Sacer,  on  account  of  debt;  Liv.  ii.  32.  2.  To  the 
Aventine,  and  thence  to  the  Mons  Sacer,  through  the  tyranny  of  Appius 
Claudius,  the  decemvir ;  Liv.  iii.  50.  3.  To  the  "Janiculum,  on  account  of 
debt ;  Liv.  Epist.  xi."  Bernouf. 


;;8  SALLUST 

must  lay  down  their  arms,  and  proceed  as  suppliants  to 
Koine;"  adding,  that  "  such  had  always  been  the  kindness'1 
and  humanity  of  the  Roman  senate  and  people,  that  none 
had  ever  asked  help  of  them  in  vain." 

Catiline,  on  his  march,  sent  letters  to  most  men  of  consular 
dignity,  and  to  all  the  most  respectable  citizens,  stating  that 
"  as  he  was  beset  by  false  accusations,  and  unable  to  resist  the 
combination  of  his  enemies,  he  was  submitting  to  the  will  of 
fortune,  and  going  into  exile  at  Marseilles ;  not  that  he  was 
guilty  of  the  great  wickedness  laid  to  his  charge,  but  that  the 
state  might  be  undisturbed,  and  that  no  insurrection  might 
arise  from  his  defense  of  himself." 

Quintus  Catulus,  however,  read  in  the  senate  a  letter  of 
a  very  different  character,  which,  he  said,  was  delivered  to 
him  in  he  name  of  Catiline,  and  of  which  the  following  is  a 
copy : 

"XXXV.  "Lucius  Catiline  to  Quintus  Catulus,  wish 
ing  health.  Your  eminent  integrity,  known  to  me  by  ex- 
perience,73 gives  a  pleasing  confidence,  in  the  midst  of  great 

71  XXXIV.  That  such  had  always  been  the  kindness,  etc.]  Ed,  mansuettf- 
dine  atque  misericordid  senatum,  populumque  Romamim  semper  f-uisge.  "  That 
the  senate,  etc.,  had  always  been  of  such  kindness."  I  Lave  deserted  the 
Latin  for  the  English  idiom. 

7»  XXXV.  The  commencement  of  this  letter  is  different  in  different 
editions.  In  Havercamp  it  stiuids  thus :  Egregiatua  fides,  re  cognita,  grata 
mihi,  magnis  in  meis  periculis,  fiduciam  commcndationi  mece  tribuit.  Cortius 
corrected  it  as  follows :  Eyregia,  tua  fides,  re  cognita,  gratam  in  maqnispeii- 
culis  fiduciam  commendat.ioni  •mete  tribuit.  Cortius's  reading  has  oeea 
adopted  by  Kritzius,  Beruouf,  and  most  other  editors.  Gerlach  and  Dietsch 
have  recalled  the  old  text.  That  Cortius's  is  the  better,  few  will  deny ;  for 
it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  Sallust  used  mihi,  meis,  and  mecE  in  such 
close  succession.  Some,  however,  as  Kupertns  and  Gerlach,  defend  Haver- 
camp's  text,  by  asserting,  from  the  phrase  earum  exemplam  infra  xcriptum, 
that  this  is  a  true  copy  of  the  letter,  and  that  the  style  is,  therefore,  not 
Sallust's,  but  Catiline  s.  But  such  an  opinion  is  sufficiently  refuted  by 
Cortius,  whose  remarks  I  will  transcribe  :  "  Kupertus,"  says  lie,  "  quod  in 
promptu  erat,  Catiline  culpam  tribuit,  qni  non  co,  quo  Crispus,  stilo  scrip- 
serit.  Sed  cur  oratio  ejus  tam  apta  et  composita  supra  c.  20  refertur  ?  At, 
inquis,  hie  ipsum  litterarum  exemplum  exhibetur.  At  vide  mihi  exemplum 
litterarum  Lentuli,  c.  44;  ct  lege  Ciceronem,  qni  idem  exhibet,  et  sentics 
sensum  magis  quam  verba  referri.  Quare  inanis  hasc  quidem  excusatio."  , 
Yet  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  grata,  mihi  is  the  reading  of  all  the  manu- 
scripts. 

,  73  Known — by  experience]  Re  cognita,.  "  Cognita"  be  it  observed,  tiro- 
mtm  gratia,,  is  the  nominative  case.  "  Catiline  had  experienced  the 
friendship  of  Catulus  in  his  affair  with  Fabia  Terentia;  for  it  was  by  his 
means  that  he  escaped  when  he  was  brought  to  trial,  as  is  related  by 
Orosius."  Bernouf. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  39 

perils,  to  my  present  recommendation.74  I  have  determined, 
therefore,  to  make'  no  formal  dei'e;ise?i  with  regard  to  my  new 
course  of  conduct ;  yet  I  was  resolved,  though  conscious  of 
no  guilt,78  to  offer  you  some  explanation,77  which,  on  my  word 
of  honor,7"  you  may  receive  as  true.79  Provoked  by  injuries 
and  indignities,  since,  being  robbed  of  the  fruit  of  my  labor 
and  exertion,80  I  did  not  obtain  the  post  of  honor  due  to  me,"1 
I  have  undertaken,  according  to  my  custom,  the  public  cause 

74  Recommendation]  Commendationi.    His  recommendation  of  his  affairs, 
and  of  Orestilla,  to  the  care  of  Catulus. 

75  Formal  defense]  Defensionem.     Opposed  to  satisfacti&nem,  which  fol- 
lows, and  which  means  a  private  apology  or  explanation.     "  Defensio,  a 
defense,  was  properly  a  statement  or  speech  to  be  made  against  an  adver- 
sary, or  before  judges ;  satisfactio  was  rather  an  excuse  or  apology  made  to 
a  friend,  or  any  other  person,  in  a  private  comuuinication."     Cortius. 

76  Though  conscious  of  up  guilt]  Ex  nutta  conscientid  de  culpd.    This 
phrase  is  explained  by  Cortius  as  equivalent  to  "  Propter  conscientam  dc 
nulla  culpa,    or  "inasmuch  as  I  am  conscious  of  no  fault."     "De  culpd" 
lie  adds,  is  the  same  as  culjnce. ;  eo  in  the  ii.  Epist.  to  Caesar,  c.  1 :  Neque  de 
faturo  quisquam  satix  calndus ;  and  c.  9 :  de  illis  potissimnm  jactura  fit." 

77  To  make  no  formal  defense — to  offer  you  some  explanation]  Defensio- 
nem—para  re:   satisfactionem—proponere.      "  Parare.'1'1   says  Cortius,    "is 
applied  to  a  defense  which  might  require  some  study  and  premeditation  ; 
proponere  to  such  a  statement  as  it  was  easy  to  make  at  once. 

™  On  my  word  of  honor]  Me  dius  Jidus,  BC.  juvet.  So  may  the  god  of 
faith  help  me,  as  I  speak  truth.  But  who  is  the  god  of  faith  1  Diug,  say 
some,  is  the  sains  as  Deus  (Plautns  has  Dens  fidius,  Asin  i.  1,  18) ;  and  the 
god  here  meant  is  probably  Jupiter  (sub  dio  being  equivalent  to  sub  Jove) ;  so 
that  Dl us  fidius  (Jidius  being  an  adjective  from  fides)  will  be  the  Zei'f  iriartof 
of  the  Greeks.  Me  dins  fidius  will  therefore  be,  "May  Jupiter  help  me  !" 
This  is  the  mode  of  explication  adopted  by  Gerlach.  Bernouf,  and  Dieted). 
Others,  with  Festus  (sub  voce  Medius  Jidius)  make  fidius  equivalent  to 
Jilius,  because  the  ancients,  according  to  Festus,  often  used  D  for  L,  and 
dius  fidius  will  then  be  the  same  as  AJOJ  or  Jovis  filius,  or  Hercules,  and 
medius fidius  will  be  the  same  as  mehcrculf*  or  meJiercule.  Varro  de  L.  L. 
(v.  10,  ed.  Sprenffsl)  mentions  a  certain  ^Elius  who  was  of  this  opinion. 
Against  this  derivation  there  is  the  quantity  of  fidius,  of  which  the  first 
syllable  is  short :  QucKrebam  Nonas  Sancofidone  referrem,  Ov.  Fast.  vi.  213. 
But  if  we  consider  dius  the  same  as  deus,  we  may  as  well  consider  dim  fidius 
to  be  the  god  Hercules  as  the  god  Jupiter,  and  may  thus  make  mediusjidius 
identical  with  meliercules,  as  it  probably  is.  "  Tertullian,  de  Idol.  20,  says 
that  meliusfidiug  is  a  form  of  swearing  by  Hercules."  Schiller's  Lex.  sub 
fidius.  This  point  will  be  made  tolerably  clear  if  we  consider  (with  Varro, 
v.  10,  and  Ovid,  loc.  cit.)  Dius  Fidius  to  'be  the  same  with  the  Sabine  San- 
cus,  or  Semo  Sancns,  and  Semo  Sancus  to  be  the  same  with  Hercules. 

7»  You  may  receive  as  true]  Veram  licet  cogrwscas.  Some  editions,  before 
that  of  Cortiu*,  have  quae — licet  vera  m'ecuin  recognoscas ;  which  was 
adopted  from  a  quotation  of  Servius  ad  ^En.  iv.  204.  But  twenty  of  the 
best  MSS.,  according  to  Certius,  have  veram,  licet  eognoscas. 

80  Robbed  of  the  fruit  of  my  labor  and  exertion]  Fructu  laboris  industri- 
ceque  mece  privatm.  "The  honors  which  besought  he  elegantly  calls  tho 
fruit  of  his  labor,  because  the  one  is  obtained  by  the  other."  Gortius. 

«  Post  of  honor  due  to  me]  Statum  dignitatis.    The  consulship. 


40  SALLUST. 

of  the  distressed.  Not  but  that  I  could  have  paid,  out  of  my 
own  property,  the  debts  contracted  on  my  own  security  ;M 
while  the  generosity  of  Orestilla,  out  of  her  own  fortune  and 
her  daughter's,  would  discharge  those  incurred  on  the  security 
of  others.  But  because  I  saw  unworthy  men  ennobled  with 
honors,  and  myself  proscribed83  on  groundless  suspicion,  I 
have  for  this  very  reason,  adopted  a  course,84  amply  justifiable 
in  my  present  circumstances,  for  preserving  what  honor  is 
left  to  me.  When  I  was  proceeding  to  write  more,  intelli- 
gence was  brought  that  violence  is  preparing  against  me.  I 
now  commend  and  intrust  Orestilla  to  your  protection  ;85  in- 
treating  you,  by  your  love  for  your  own  children,  to  defend 
her  from  injury.8"  Farewell." 

XXXVI.  Catiline  himself,  having  stayed  a  few  days  with 
Caius  Flaminius  Flamma  in  the  neighborhood  of  Arretium," 
while  he  was  supplying  the  adjacent  parts,  already  excited  to 
insurrection,  with  arms,  marched  with  his  fasces,  and  other 
ensigns  of  authority,  to  join  Manlius  in  his  camp. 

When  this  was  known  at  Rome,  the  senate  declared  Catiline 
and  Manlius  enemies  to  the  state,  and  fixed  a  day  as  to  the 
rest  of  their  force,  before  which  they  might  lay  down  their 
arms  with  impunity,  except  such  as  had  been  convicted  of 
capital  offenses.  They  also  decreed  that  the  consuls  should 

62  On  my  own  security]  Mei«  nominibus.  "  lie  uses  the  plural,"  says 
Herzogius,  "because  he  had  not  borrowed  once  only,  or  from  one  person, 
but  oftentimes,  and  from  many."  No  other  critic  attempts  to  explain  this 
point.  For  alienis  nominibv-s,  which  follows,  being  in  the  plural,  there  is 
very  good  reason.  My  translation  is  in  conformity  with  Beruouf  s  com- 
ment. 

83  Proscribed]  Alienatum.  "Kepulsed  from  all  hope  of  the  consulship." 
Jternouf. 

64  Adopted  a  course]  Spes — secutus  sum.  "  Sjaem  sequi  is  a  phrase  often 
used  when  the  direction  of  the  mind  to  any  thing,  action,  or  course  of  con- 
duct, and  the  subsequent  election  and  adoption  of  what  appears  advantag- 
eous, is  signified."  Cortius. 

8»  Protection]  Fidei. 

M  Intreating  you,  by  jour  love  for  your  own  children,  to  defend  her  from 
injury]  Earn  ab  injuria  defendas,  per  liberos  tuos  rogatus.  "  Defend  her 
from  injury,  being  intreated  [to  do  BO]  by  [or  for  the  sake  of]  your  own 
children." 

*7  XXXVI.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Arretinm]  In  agro  Arretino.  Haver- 
camp,  and  many  of  the  old  editions,  have  Reatino  ;  "  but,"  says  Cortius, 
"  if  Catiline  went  the  direct  road  to  Faesulae,  as  is  rendered  extremely  prob- 
able by  his  pretense  that  he  was  going  to  Marseilles,  and  by  the  assertion 
of  Cicero,  made  the  day  after  his  departure,  that  he  was  on  his  way  to 
join  Manlius,  we  must  certainly  read  Arretino."  Arretium  (now  Arezzo) 
lay  in  his  road  to  FtEsulse  ;  Keate  was  many  miles  out  of  it. 


CONSPIRACY  OP  CATILINE.  41 

"hold  a  levy;  that  Antonius,  with  an  army,  should  hasten  ia 
pursuit  of  Catiline ;  and  that  Cicero  should  protect  the  city. 

At  this  period  the  empire  of  Rome  appears  to  me  to  have 
been  in  an  extremely  deplorable  condition  ;"8  for  though  every 
nation,  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  cf  the  sun,  lay  in  sub- 
jection to  her  arms,  and  though  peace  and  prosperity,  which 
mankind  think  the  greatest  blessings,  were  hers  in  abundance, 
there  yet  were  found,  among  her  citizens,  men  who  were  bent 
with  obstinate  determination,  to  plunge  themselves  and  their 
country  into  ruin ;  for,  notwithstanding  the  two  decrees  of 
the  senate,81*  not  one  individual,  out  of  so  vast  a  number,  was 
induced  by  the  offer  of  reward  to  give  information  of  the 
conspiracy ;  nor  was  there  a  single  deserter  from  the  camp  of 
Catiline.  So  strong  a  spirit  of  disaffection  had,  like  a  pesti- 
lence, pervaded  the  minds  of  most  of  the  citizens. 

XXXVII.  Nor  was  this  disaffected  spirit  confined  to  those 
who  were  actually  concerned  in  the  conspiracy ;  for  the 
whole  of  the  common  people,  from  a  desire  of  change,  favored 
the  projects  of  Catiline.  This  they  seemed  to  do  in  accordance 
with  their  general  character ;  for,  in  every  state,  they  that 
are  poor  envy  those  of  a  better  class,  and  endeavor  to  exalt 
the  factious ;""  they  dislike  the  established  condition  of  things, 
and  long  for  something  new  ;  they  are  discontented  with  their 
own  circumstances,  and  desire  a  general  alteration ;  they  can 
support  themselves  amid  tumult  and  sedition,  without  anxiety, 
since  poverty  does  not  easily  suffer  loss.91 

As  for  the  populace  of  the  city,  they  had  become  disaffected92 
from  various  causes.  In  the  first  place,93  such  as  every  where 

88  In  an  extremely  deplorable  condition]  Multo  maximc  miserabile.    Multa 
is  added  to  superlatives,  like  long?.    So  c.  52,  multo puleherrimam  eani  nos 
haberemus.    Cortius  gives  several  other  instances. 

89  Notwithstanding  the  two  decrees  of  the  senate]  Duobus  senati  decretis. 
I  have  translated  it  "  the  two  decrees,"  with  Kose.    One  of  the  two  w«a 
that  respecting  the  rewards  mentioned  in  c.  30  ;  the  other  was  that  spoken 
of  in  c.  36,  allowing  the  followers  of  Catiline  to  lay  down  their  arms  before 
a  certain  day. 

90  XXXVII.  Endeavor  to  exalt  the  factious]  Malos  extollunt.    They  strive 
to  elevate  into  office  those  who  resemble  themselves. 

1)1  Poverty  does  not  easily  sufler  loss]  Egestas  facile  Aabetur  sine  damnn-, 
He  that  has  nothing,  has  nothing  to  lose.  Petrou.  Sat.,  c.  119  :  Inops  a-u- 
dutia  tuia,  est. 

M  Had  become  disaffected]  Prcecfps  aburat.  Had  grown  demoralized, 
sunk  in  corruption,  and  ready  to  join  in  any  plots  against  the  state.  So 
Sallu'st  says  of  Sempronm,  prceceps  abierat,  c.  2i. 

98  In  the  first  place]  Primum  omnium.    "  These  words  refer,  not  to  item 


42  SALLUST. 

took  the  lead  in  crime  and  profligacy,  with  others  who  had 
squandered  their  fortunes  in  dissipation,  and,  in  a  word,  all 
whom  vice  and  villainy  had  driven  from  their  homes,  had 
flocked  to  Rome  as  a  general  receptacle  of  impurity.  In  the 
next  place,  many,  who  thought  of  the  success  of  Sylla,  when 
they  had  seen  some  raised  from  common  soldiers  into  senators, 
and  others  so  enriched  as  to  live  in  regal  luxury  and  pomp, 
hoped,  each  for  himself,  similar  results  from  victory,  if  they 
should  once  take  up  arms.  In  addition  to  this,  the  youth, 
who,  in  the  country,  had  earned  a  scanty  livelihood  hy  manual 
labor,  tempted  by  public  and  private  largesses,  had  preferred 
idleness  in  the  city  to  unwelcome  toil  in  the  field.  To  these, 
and  all  others  of  similar  character,  public  disorders  would 
furnish  subsistence.  It  is  not  at  all  surprising,  therefore, 
that  men  in  distress,  of  dissolute  principles  and  extravagant 
expectations,  should  have  consulted  the  interest  of  the  state 
110  further  than  as  it  was  subservient  to  their  own.  Besides, 
those  whose  parents,  by  the  victory  of  Sylla,  had  been  pro- 
scribed, whose  property  had  been  confiscated,  and  whose  civil 
rights  had  been  curtailed,81  looked  forward  to  the  event  of  a 
war  with  precisely  the  same  feelings. 

All  those,  too,  who  were  of  any  party  opposed  to  that  of 
the  senate,  were  desirous  rather  that  the  state  should  be 
embroiled,  than  that  they  themselves  should  be  out  of 
power.  This  was  an  evil,  which,  after  many  years,  had  re- 
turned upon  the  community  to  the  extent  to  which  it  now 
prevailed."5 

XXXVIII.  For  after  the  powers  of  the  tribunes,  in  the  con- 
sulate of  Cneius  Poinpey  end  Marcus  Crassus,  had  been  fully 

and  postremo  in  the  same  sentence,  but  to  deinde  at  the  commencement  of 
the  next."  Bernmif. 

64  Civil  rights  had  been  curtailed]  Jus  libcrtatis  imminutvm  erat.  "  Sylla, 
by  one  of  his  laws,  had  rendered  the  children  of  proscribed  persons  incapa- 
ble of  holding  any  public  office  ;  a  law  unjust,  indeed,  but  which,  having 
been  established  and  acted  upon  for  more  than  twenty  years,  could  not  bo 
rescinded  without  inconvenience  to  the  government.  Cicero,  accordingly, 
opposed  the  attempts  which  were  made,  in  his  consulship,  to  remove  this 
restriction,  as  he  himself  states  in  his  Oration  against  Piso,  c.  2."  B&rnrmf. 
See  Veil.  Puterc.,  ii.,  28  ;  Plutarch,  Vit.  Syll.;  Quintil.,  xi.  1,  where  a  frag- 
ment of  Cicero's  speech,  De  Proscriptorvm  Liberis,  is  preserved.  This  law 
of  Sylla  was  at  length  abrogated  by  Julius  Caesar,  Suet.  J.  Cses.  41 ;  Pln- 
tarch  Vit.  Caes.;  Dio  Cnss.,  xli.  18. 

95  This  was  an  evil — to  the  extent  to  which  it  now  prevailed]  Id  adei> 
malum  multos  post  annos  in  cioitatem  reverterat.  "  Adeo,  says  Cortius,  "  is» 
partwufa  olegantissima."  Allen  makes  it  equivalent  t 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  43 

restored,06  certain  young  men,  of  an  ardent  age  and  temper, 
having  obtained  that  high  office,97  began  to  stir  up  the  populace 
by  inveighing  against  the  senate,  and  proceeded,  in  course  of 
time,  by  means  of  largesses  and  promises,  to  inflame  them  more 
and  more  ;  by  which  methods  they  became  popular  and  power- 
ful. On  the  other  hand,  the  most  of  the  nobility  opposed  their 
proceedings  to  the  utmost ;  under  pretense,  indeed,  of  support- 
ing the  senate,  but  in  reality  for  their  own  aggrandizement. 
For,  to  state  the  truth  in  few  words,  whatever  parties,  during 
that  period,  disturbed  the  republic  under  plausible  pretexts, 
some,  as  if  to  defend  the  rights  of  the  people,  others,  to  make 
the  authority  of  the  senate  as  great  as  possible,  all,  though 
affecting  concern  for  the  public  good,  contended  every  one 
for  his  own  interest.  In  such  contests  there  was  neither  mod- 
eration nor  limit ;  each  party  made  a  merciless  use  of  its  suc- 
cesses. 

XXXIX.  After  Pompey,  however,  was  sent  to  the  maritime 
and  Mithridatic  wars,  the  power  of  the  people  was  diminished, 
and  the  influence  of  the  few  increased.  These  few  kept  all 
public  offices,  the  administration  of  the  provinces,  and  every 
thing  else,  in  their  own  hands ;  they  themselves  lived  free 
from  harm,08  in  flourishing  circumstances,  and  without  appre- 
hension ;  overawing  others,  at  the  same  time,  with  threats 
of  impeachment,93  so  that,  when  in  office,  they  might  be 
less  inclined  to  inflame  the  people.  But  as  soon  as  a  pros- 
pect of  change,  in  this  dubious  state  of  affairs,  had  presented 
itself,  the  old  spirit  of  contention  awakened  their  passions ; 
and  had  Catiline,  in  his  first  battle,  come  off  victorious,  or  left 
the  struggle  undecided,  great  distress  and  calamity  must  cer- 
tainly have  fallen  upon  the  state,  nor  would  those,  who  might 
at  last  have  gained  the  ascendency,  have  been  allowed  to  enjoy 

»«  XXXVIII.  The  powers  of  the  tribunes— had  been  fully  restored]  Tri- 
bunicia  potestas  restitute,.  Before  the  time  of  Sylla,  the  power  of  the  tribunes 
had  grown  immoderate,  but  Sylla  diminished  and  almost  annihilated  it,  by 
taking  from  them  the  privileges  of  holding  any  other  magistracy  after  the 
tribunate,  of  publicly  addressing  the  people,  of  proposing  laws,  an'd  of  lister. - 
inir  to  appeals.  But  m  the  consulship  of  Cotta,  A.D.C.  679,  the  first  of  these 
privileges  had  been  restored;  and  in  that  of  Pompey  and  Crassus,  A.0.C. 
CS3,  the  tribunes  were  reinstated  in  all  their  former  powers. 

w  Having  obtained  that  high  office]  Summam  potestatem  nacti.  Cortius 
thinks  these  words  spurious. 

y8  XXXIX.  Free  from  harm]  Innoxii.    In  a  passive  sense. 

09  Overawing  others  —  with  threats  of  impeachment]  Cceteros  judiciit 
lerrere.  "  Accusationibus  et  judiciorum  periculis."  Bertumf. 


44  SALLTJST. 

it  long,  for  some  superior  power  would  have  wrested  dominion 
and  liberty  from  them  when  weary  and  exhausted. 

There  were  some,  however,  unconnected  with  the  conspiracy, 
who  set  out  to  join  Catiline  at  an  early  period  of  his  proceed- 
ings. Among  these  was  Aulus  Fulvius,  the  son  of  a  senator, 
whom,  being  arrested  on  his  journey,  his  father  ordered  to  be 
put  to  death.1  In  Rome,  at  the  same  time,  Lentulus,  in  pur- 
suance of  Catiline's  directions,  was  endeavoring  to  gain  over, 
by  his  own  agency  or  that  of  others,  all  whom  he  thought 
adapted,  either  by  principles  or  circumstances,  to  promote  an 
insurrection ;  and  not  citizens  only,  but  every  description  of 
men  who  could  be  of  any  service  in  war. 

XL.  He  accordingly  commissioned  one  Publius  Umbrenus 
to  apply  to  certain  deputies  of  the  Allobroges,2  and  to  lead 
them,  if  he  could,  to  a  participation  in  the  war  ;  supposing 
that  as  they  were  nationally  and  individually  involved  in  debt, 
and  as  the  Gauls  were  naturally  warlike,  they  might  easily  be 
drawn  into  such  an  enterprise.  Umbrenus,  as  he  had  traded 
in  Gaul,  was  known  to  most  of  the  chief  men  there,  and  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  them ;  and  consequently,  without  loss 
of  time,  as  soon  as  he  noticed  the  deputies  in  the  Forum,  he 
asked  them,  after  making  a  few  inquiries  about  the  state  of  their 
country,  and  affecting  to  commiserate  its  fallen  condition, 
"  what  termination  they  expected  to  such  calamities  ?"  When 
he  found  that  they  complained  of  the  rapacity  of  the  magis- 
trates, inveighed  against  the  senate  for  not  affording  them  re- 
lief, and  looked  to  death  as  the  only  remedy  for  their  sufferings, 
"  Yet  I,"  said  he,  "  if  you  will  but  act  as  men,  will  show  you  a 
method  by  which  you  may  escape  these  pressing  difficulties." 
When  he  had  said  this,  the  Allobroges,  animated  with  the 
highest  hopes,  besought  Umbrenus  to  take  compassion  on  them  ; 
saying  that  there  was  nothing  so  disagreeable  or  difficult, 

1  His  father  ordered  to  be  put  to  death]  Parens  necari  jussit.  "His 
father  put  him  to  death,  not  by  order  of  the  consuls,  but  by  his  own  private 
authority ;  nor  was  he  the  only  one  who,  at  the  same  period,  exercised  simi- 
lar power."  Dion.  Cass.,  lib.  xxxvii.  The  father  observed  on  the  occasion, 
that,  "  he  had  begotten  him.  not  for  Catiline  against  his  country,  but  for  his 
country  against  Catiline."  Val.  Max.,  v.  8.  The  Roman  laws  allowed  fathers 
absolute  control  over  the  lives  of  their  children. 

4  XL.  Certain  deputies  of  the  Allobroges]  Legatos  Attdbrogum.  Plutarch, 
in  his  Life  of  Cicero,  says  that  there  were  then  at  Rome  two  deputies  from 
this  Gallic  nation,  sent  to  complain  of  oppression  on  the  part  of  the  Roinou 
governors. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  45 

which  they  would  not  most  gladly  perform,  if  it  would  but  free 
their  country  from  debt.  He  then  conducted  them  to  the 
house  of  Decimus  Brutus,  which  was  close  to  the  Forum,  and, 
on  account  of  Sempronia,  not  unsuitable  to  his  purpose,  as 
1  Srutus  was  then  absent  from  Rome.3  In  order,  too,  to  give 
greater  weight  to  his  representations,  he  sent  for  Gabinius,  and, 
ia  his  presence,  explained  the  objects  of  the  conspiracy,  and 
mentioned  the  names  of  the  confederates,  as  well  as  those  of 
many  other  persons,  of  every  sort,  who  were  guiltless  of  it,  for 
the  purpose  of  inspiring  the  embassadors  with  greater  con- 
fidence. At  length,  when  they  had  promised  their  assistance, 
he  let  them  depart. 

XLI.  Yet  the  Allobroges  were  long  in  suspense  what  course 
they  should  adopt.  On  the  one  hand,  there  was  debt,  an  in- 
clination for  war,  and  great  advantages  to  be  expected  from 
victory  ;4  on  the  other,  superior  resources,  safe  plans,  and  cer- 
tain rewards6  instead  of  uncertain  expectations.  As  they  were 
balancing  these  considerations,  the  good  fortune  of  the  state  at 
length  prevailed.  They  accordingly  disclosed  the  whole  affair, 
just  as  they  had  learned  it,  to  Quintus  Fabius  Sanga,8  to  whose 
patronage  their  state  was  very  greatly  indebted.  Cicero,  being 
apprized  of  the  matter  by  Sanga,  directed  the  deputies  to  pre- 
tend a  strong  desire  for  the  success  of  the  plot,  to  seek  inter- 
views with  the  rest  of  the  conspirators,  to  make  them  fair 
promises,  and  to  endeavor  to  lay  them  open  to  conviction  as 
much  as  possible. 

3  As  Brutus  was  then  absent  from  Kome]  Nam  turn  Brutus  ab  Roma 
aherat.    From  this  remark,  say  Zanchina  and  Omnibonus,  it  is  evident  that 
Brutus  was  not  privy  to  the  conspiracy. 

"  What  sort  of  woman  Sempronia  was,  has  been  told  in  c.  25.  Some  have 
thought  that  she  was  the  wife  of  Decimus  Brutus  ;  but  since  Sallust  speaks 
of  her  as  being  in  the  decay  of  her  beauty  at  the  time  of  the  conspiracy,  and 
since  Brutus,  as  may  be  seen  in  Csesar  (B.  G.  vii.,  sub  fin.),  was  then  very 
young,  it  is  probable  that  she  had  only  an  illicit  connection  with  him,  but 
Bad  gained  such  an  ascendency  over  his  affections,  by  her  arts  of  seduction, 
as  to  induce  him  to  make  her  his  mistress,  and  to  allow  her  to  reside  in  his 
house."  B(H'!~<i. 

I  have,  however,  followed  those  who  think  that  Brutus  was  the  husband 
of  Sempronia.  Sallust  (c.  24),  speaking  of  the  woman,  of  whom  Sempronia 
was  one,  says  that  Catiline  credetxit posse — /•/>"-*  (•,!/•  >/>n  rd  wljmxjere  sil/i}  vel 
interfere.  'The  truth,  on  such  a  point,  is  of  little  importance. 

4  XLI.  To  be  expected  from  victory]  In  spe  viotorice. 

6  Certain  rewards]  Certa prttmia.  "  Offered  by  the  senate  to  those  who 
should  give  information  of  the  conspiracy.  See  c.  3i>."  Ktihnhardt. 

*  Quintus  Fab:  is  Sanga]  "A  dcscendent  of  that  Fabius  who,  for  having 
subdued  the  All^bvoges,  was  suniamed  Allobrogicus."  Bernoif.  AYl.'ole 
states  often  choso  (nitrous  as  well  as  individuals. 


46  SALLUST. 

XLII.  Much  about  the  same  time  there  were  commotionsT 
in  Hither  and  Further  Gaul,  in  the  Picenian  and  Bruttian  ter- 
ritories, and  in  Apulia.  For  those,  whom  Catiline  had  pre- 
viously sent  to  those  parts,  had  begun,  without  consideration, 
and  seemingly  with  madness,  to  attempt  every  thing  at  once  ; 
and,  by  nocturnal  meetings,  by  removing  armor  and  weapons 
from  place  to  place,  and  by  hurrying  and  confusing  every 
thing,  had  created  more  alarm  than  danger.  Of  these,  Quintus 
Metellus  Celer,  the  praetor,  having  brought  several  to  trial,* 
under  the  decree  of  the  senate,  had  thrown  them  into  prison, 
as  had  also  Caius  Mursena  in  Further  Gaul,9  who  governed  that 
province  in  quality  of  legate. 

XLIII.  But  at  Rome,  in  the  mean  time,  Lentulus,  with  the 
other  leaders  of  the  conspiracy,  having  secured  what  they 
thought  a  large  force,  had  arranged,  that  as  soon  as  Catiline 
should  reach  the  neighborhood  of  Ftesulse,  Lucius  Bestia,  a 
tribune  of  the  people,  having  called  an  assembly,  should  com- 
plain of  the  proceedings  of  Cicero,  and  lay  the  odium  of  this 
most  oppressive  war  on  the  excellent  consul  ;10  and  that  the 
rest  of  the  conspirators,  taking  this  as  a  signal,  should,  on  the 
following  night,  proceed  to  execute  their  respective  parts. 

These  parts  are  said  to  have  been  thus  distributed.  Statilius 
and  Gabinius,  with  a  large  force,  were  to  set  on  fire  twelve 

7  XLII.  There  were  commotions]  Motus  erat.    li  Mbtus  is  also  used  by 
Cicero  and  Livy  in  the  singular  number  for  seditiones  and  tumultns.     No 
change  is  therefore  to  be  made  in  the  text."  Gerlach.    "  Motus  bellicos  in- 
telligit,  tumultus  ;  nt  Flor.,  iii.  13."   Cortius. 

8  Having  brought  several  to  trial]   Complures — caussd  cognita.    "  Cavssam 
cognoscere  is  the  legal  phrase  for  examining  as  to  the  authors  and  causes  of 
any  crime."  Dietscli. 

9  Caius  Mursena  in  Further  Gaul]  In  Ulteriore  Gallia  C.  Murcena.    All 
the  editions,  previous  to  that  of  Cortius,  have  in  citeriore  Gallia.    "  But  C. 
Mursena,"  says  the  critic,  "  commanded  in  Gallia  Transalpina,  or  Ulterior 
Gaul,  as  appears  from  Cic.  pro  Muraeiia,  c.  41.    To  attribute  such  an  error 
to  a  lapse  of  memory  in  Sallust,  would  be  absurd.    I  have,  therefore,  confi- 
dently altered  citeriore  into  ulteriore."     The  praise  of  having  first  discovered 
the  error,  however,  is  due,  not  to  Cortius,  out  to  Felicias  Durantinus,  a 
friend  of  Kivius,  in  whose  note  on  the  passage  his  discovery  is  recorded. 

10  XLIII.  The  excellent  consul]  Optimo  consvli.    With 'the  exception  of 
the  slight  commendation  bestowed  on  his  speech,  luculentam,  atque  utilem 
reipuMicce,  c.  31,  this  is  the  only  epithet  of  praise  that  Sallust  bestows  on 
the  consul  throughout  his  narrative.   That  it  could  be  regarded  only  as  frigid 
eulogy,  is  apparent  from  a  passage  in  one  of  Cicero's  letters  to  Atticus  (xii. 
21),  in  which  he  speaks  of  the  same  epithet  having  been  applied  to  him  by 
Brutus:  "  Brutus  thinks  that  he  pays  me  a  great  compliment  when  he  calls 
me  an  excellent  consul  (optimum  co'usulcm) ;  but  what  enemy  could  speak 
more  coldly  of  me  ?" 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  47 

places  of  the  city,  convenient  for  their  purpose,11  at  the  same 
time  ;  in  order  that,  during  the  consequent  tumult,12  an  easier 
access  might  be  obtained  to  the  consul,  and  to  the  others  whose 
destruction  was  intended ;  Cethegus  was  to  beset  the  gate  of 
Cicero,  and  attack  him  personally  with  violence  ;  others  were 
to  single  out  other  victims ;  while  the  sons  of  certain  families, 
mostly  of  the  nobility,  were  to  kill  their  fathers ;  and,  when  all 
were  in  consternation  at  the  massacre  and  conflagration,  they 
were  to  sally  forth  to  join  Catiline. 

While  they  were  thus  forming  and  settling  their  plans, 
Cethegtis  was  incessantly  complaining  of  the  want  of  spirit  in 
his  associates  ;  observing,  that  they  wasted  excellent  opportun^ 
ities  through  hesitation  and  delay  ;13  that,  in  such  an  enterprise, 
there  was  need,  not  of  deliberation,  but  of  action  ;  and  that  he 
himself,  if  a  few  would  support  him,  would  storm  the  senate- 
house  while  the  others  remained  inactive.  Being  naturally 
bold,  sanguine,  and  prompt  to  act,  he  thought  that  success  de- 
pended on  rapidity  of  execution. 

XLIV.  The  Allobroges,  according  to  the  directions  of 
Cicero,  procured  interviews,  by  means  of  Gabinius,  with  the 
other  conspirators ;  and  from  Lentulus,  Cethegus,  Statilius, 
and  Cassius,  they  demanded  an  oath,  which  they  might  carry 
under  seal  to  their  countrymen,  who  otherwise  would  hardly 
join  in  so  important  an  affair.  To  this  the  others  consented 
without  suspicion ;  but  Cassius  promised  them  soon  to  visit 
their  country,14  and,  indeed,  left  the  city  a  little  before  the 
deputies, 

In  order  that  the  Allobroges,  before  they  reached  home, 
might  confirm  their  agreement  with  Catiline,  by  giving  and  re- 
ceiving pledges  of  faith,  Lentulus  sent  with  them  one  Titus 
Volturcius,  a  native  of  Crotona,  he  himself  giving  Volturcius  a 
letter  for  Catiline,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy : 

"  Who  I  am,  you  will  learn  from  the  person  whom  I  have 

1  ^  Twelve  places  of  the  city,  convenient  for  their  purpose]  Duodecim — • 
opportune  loca.  Plutarch,  in  his  Lii'e  of  Cicero,  says  a  hundred  places.  Few- 
narratives  lose  by  repetition. 

12  In  order  that,  during  the  consequent  tumult]   Quo  tumultu.     "  It  is 
best,"  says  Dietsch,  "  to  take  gvo  as  the  particula  Jinalis  (to  the  end  that), 
and  tumultu  as  the  ablative  of  the  instrument." 

13  Delay]  Die* prolatando.     By  putting  off  from  day  to  day. 

14  XLIV.  Soon  to  visit  their  country]  Semet  eb  brevi  ventwmm.     "It  is 
plain  that  the  adverb  relates  to  what  precedes  (ad  cives) ;  and  that  Cassias 
expresses  an  intention  to  set  out  for  Gaul."  Dietsch. 


48  SALLUST. 

sent  to  you.  Reflect  seriously  in  how  desperate  a  situation  you 
are  placed,  and  remember  that  you  are  a  man.16  Consider 
what  your  views  demand,  and  seek  aid  from  all,  even  the  low- 
fist."  In  addition,  he  gave  him  this  verbal  message  :  "  Since 
ho  was  declared  an  enemy  by  the  senate,  for  what  reason  should 
he  reject  the  assistance  of  slaves  ?  That,  in  the  city,  every 
thing  which  he  had  directed  was  arranged  ;  and  that  he  should 
not  delay  to  make  nearer  approaches  to  it." 

XLV.  Matters  having  proceeded  thus  far,  and  a  night  being 
appointed  for  the  departure  of  the  deputies,  Cicero,  being  by 
them  made  acquainted  with  every  thing,  directed  the  praetors,18 
Lucius  Valerius  Flaceus,  and  Caius  Pomtinus,  to  arrest  the 
retinue  of  the  Allobroges,  by  laying  in  wait  for  them  on  the 
Milvian  Bridge  ;17  he  gave  them  a  full  explanation  of  the  object 
with  which  they  were  sent,18  and  left  them  to  manage  the  rest 
as  occasion  might  require.  Being  military  men,  they  placed  a 
force,  as  had  been  directed,  without  disturbance,  and  secretly 
invested  the  bridge  ;  when  the  deputies,  with  Volturcius,  came 
to  the  place,  and  a  shout  was  raised  from  each  side  of  the 
bridge,19  the  Gauls,  at  once  comprehending  the  matter,  sur- 
rendered themselves  immediately  to  the  praetors.  Volturcius, 
at  first,  encouraging  his  companions,  defended  himself  against 
numbers  with  his  sword  ;  but  afterward,  being  unsupported  by 
the  Allobroges,  he  began  earnestly  to  beg  Pomtinus,  to  whom 
he  was  known,  to  save  his  life,  and  at  last,  terrified  and  despair- 
ing of  safety,  he  surrendered  himself  to  the  praetors  as  uncon- 
ditionally as  to  foreign  enemies. 

XLVL  The  affair  being  thus  concluded,  a  full  account  of 
it  was  immediately  transmitted  to  the  consul  by  messengers. 
Great  anxiety,  and  great  joy,  affected  him  at  the  same  mo- 
ment. He  rejoiced  that,  by  the  discovery  of  the  conspiracy, 
the  state  was  freed  from  danger  ;  but  he  was  doubtful  how  he 
ought  to  act,  when  citizens  of  such  eminence  were  detected  in 

15  Remember  that  you  are  a  man]  Memineris  te  virum.  Remember  that 
you  are  a  man,  and  ought  to  act  as  one.  Cicero,  in  repeating  this  letter 
from  memory  (Orat.  in  Cat.,  iii.  5),  gives  the  phrase,  Cura  ut  mr  sis. 

111  XLV.  The  praetors]  Proetortlnis  urbanis,  the  prators  of  the  city. 

17  The  Milvian  Bridge]  Ponte  Mulmo.     Now  Poide  Molle. 

18  Of  the  object  with  which  they  were  sent]  Rem — cujus  gratia  mitttkantur. 
lf  From  each  side  of  the  bridge]    Utrinque.     "  Utrmque,"  observes  Cor- 

tins.  "glossse  MSS.  exponunt  ex,  utraque  parte  pontis,  and  there  is  little 
doubt  that  the  exposition  is  correct.  No  translator,  however,  before  myself 
has  availed  himself  of  it. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  49 

trenson  BO  atrocious.  He  saw  that  their  punishment  •would  be 
n  weight  upon  himself,  and  their  escape  the  destruction  of  the 
(,'ominonwealth.  Having,  however,  formed  his  resolution,  he 
ordered  Lentulus,  Cethegus,  Statilius,  Gabinius,  and  one  Quintus 
Coeparius  of  Terra cina,  who  was  preparing  to  go  to  Apulia  to 
raise  the  slaves,  to  be  summoned  before  him.  The  others  came 
without  delay ;  but  Coeparius,  having  left  his  house  a  little  be- 
fore, and  heard  of  the  discovery  of  the  conspiracy,  had  fled  from 
the  city.  The  consul  himself  conducted  Lentulus,  as  he  was 
praetor,  holding  him  by  the  hand,  and  ordered  the  others  to  be 
brought  into  the  Temple  of  Concord,  under  a  guard.  Here  he 
assembled  the  senate,  and  in  a  very  full  attendance  of  that  body, 
introduced  Volturcius  with  the  deputies.  Hither  also  he  or- 
dered Valerius  Flaccus,  the  praetor,  to  bring  the  box  with  the 
letters50  which  he  had  taken  from  the  deputies. 

XL VII.  Volturcius,  being  questioned  concerning  his  journey, 
concerning  his  letter,21  and  lastly,  what  object  he  had  Had  iu 
view,"2  and  from  what  motives  he  had  acted,  at  first  began  to 
prevaricate,"3  and  to  pretend  ignorance  of  the  conspiracy;  but 
;:t  length,  when  he  was  told  to  speak  on  the  security  of  the 
public  faith,21  he  disclosed  every  circumstance  as  it  had  really 
occurred,  stating  that  he  had  been  admitted  as  an  associate,  a 
few  days  before,  by  Gabinius  and  Coeparius ;  that  he  knew  no 
more  than  the  deputies,  only  that  he  used  to  hear  from  Gabin- 
ius, that  Publius  Autronius,  Servius  Sylla,  Lucius  Vargunteius, 
and  many  others,  were  engaged  in  the  conspiracy.  The  Gauls 
made  a  similar  confession,  and  charged  Lentulus,  who  began  to 
affect  ignorance,  not  only  with  the  letter  to  Catiline,  but  with 

-  XL VI.  The  box  with  the  letters]  firrinium  cum  llleris.  Litterce  may  bo 
rendered  either  letter  or  Utter*.  There  is  no  mention  made  previously  of 
more  letters  than  that  of  Lentulus  to  Catiline,  c.  44.  But  as  it  is  not  likely 
that  the  deputies  carried  a  box  to  convey  only  one  letter,  I  have  followed 
other  translators  by  putting  the  word  in  the  plural.  The  oath  of  the  con- 
spirators, too.  which  was  a  written  document,  was  probably  in  the  box. 

11  XLVII.  His  letter]  Litteris.  H'*  own  letter  to  Catiline,  c.  44.  Soprceter 
lit/eras  a  little  below. 

22  What  object  he  had  had  in  view,  etc.]  Quid,  (tut  qua  de  causa,  cmisilii 
Tialiuisxet.     What  design  lie  had  entertained,  and  from  what  motive  he  had 
ned  it. 

a3  To  prevaricate]  Flruiere  alia.  "  To  pretend  other  things  than  what  had 
reference  to  the  conspiracy."  !!•/•/. 

24  On  the  security  of  tlie  public  faith]  Fide  pv.blicA.  "  Cicero  pledged  to 
him  the  public  faith,  with  the  consent  of  the  senate  ;  or  engaged,  in  the 
name  of  the  republic,  that  his  life  should  be  spared,  if  he  would  but  speak 
the  truth.1'  Bcrnouf. 

3 


50  SALLUST. 

remarks  which  he  was  in  the  habit  of  making,  "  that  the 
sovereignly  of  Rome,  by  the  Sibylline  books,  was  predestined 
to  three  Cornelii ;  that  Cinna  and  Sylla  had  ruled  already ;" 
and  that  he  himself  was  the  third,  whose  fate  it  would  be  to 
govern  the  city  ;  and  that  this,  too,  was  the  twentieth  year 
since  the  Capitol  was  burned  ;  a  year  which  the  augurs,  from 
certain  omens,  had  often  said  would  be  stained  with  the  blood 
of  civil  war." 

The  letter  then  being  read,  the  senate,  when  all  had  previous- 
ly acknowledged  their  seals,28  decreed  that  Lentulus,  being  de- 
prived of  his  office,  should,  as  well  as  the  rest,  be  placed  in 
private  custody.27  Lentulus,  accordingly,  was  given  in  charge 
to  Publius  Lentulus  Spinther,  who  was  then  sedile ;  Cethegus, 
to  Quintus  Cornificius ;  Statilius,  to  Cains  Caesar  ;  Gabinius,  to 
Marcus  Crassus ;  and  Coeparius,  who  had  just  before  been  ar- 
rested in  his  flight,  to  Cneius  Terentius,  a  senator. 

XLVIII.  The  cojmmon  people,  meanwhile,  who  had  at  first, 
from  a  desire  of  change  in  the  government,  been  too  much  in- 
clined to  war,  having,  on  the  discovery  of  the  plot,  altered  their 
sentiments,  began  to  execrate  the  projects  of  Catiline,  to  extol 
Cicero  to  the  skies;  and,  as  if  rescued  from  slavery,  to  give 
proofs  of  joy  and  exultation.  Other  effects  of  war  they  expected 
as  a  gain  rather  than  a  loss ;  but  the  burning  of  the  city  they 
thought  inhuman,  outrageous,  and  fatal,  especially  to  themselves, 
whose  whole  property  consisted  in  their  daily  necessaries  and 
the  clothes  which  they  Avore. 

On  the  following  day,  a  certain  Lucius  Tarquinius  was 
brought  before  the  senate,  who  was  said  to  have  been  arrested 
as  he  was  setting  out  to  join  Catiline.  This  person,  having 

35  That  Cinna  and  Sylla  had  ruled  already]  Cinnam  alque  Syllam  antea. 
"  Had  ruled,"  or  something  similar,  must  be  supplied.  Cinna  had  been  the 
means  of  recalling  Marias  from  Africa,  in  conjunction  with  whom  he  domi- 
neered over  the  city,  and  made  it  a  scene  of  bloodshed  and  desolation. 

28  Their  seals]  Signa  sua.  "  Leurs  cachets,  leurs  sceaux."  Bernonf.  Th« 
Komans  tied  their  letters  round  with  a  string,  the  knot  of  which  they  cov- 
ered with  wax,  and  impressed  with  a  se.il.  To  open  the  letter  it  was  neces- 
sary to  cut  the  string:  "nos  liniim  incidimvs,'"  Cic.  Or.  in  Cat.  iii.  5.  Sea 
also  C.  Nep.  Pans.  4,  and  Adam's  Roman  Antiquities..  The  seal  of  Leiitulus 
had  on  it  a  likeness  of  one  of  his  ancestors ;  see  Cicero,  Ice.  tit. 

27  In  private  custody]  In  liberix  custodiis.  Literally,  in  "free  custody," 
but  "  private  custody"  conveys  a  better  notion  of  the  arrangement  to  the 
mind  of  the  English  reader.  It  was  called  free  because  the  persons  in 
custody  were  not  confined  in  prison.  Plutarch  calls  it  afifdfiov  ^uAa/c^v, 
as  also  Dion.,  cap.  Iviii.  3.  See  Tacit.  Ann.  vi.  3.  It  was  adopted  in  the  case 
of  persons  of  rank  and  consideration. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  51 

offered  to  give  information  of  the  conspiracy,  if  the  public  faith 
were  pledged  to  him,8*  and  being  directed  by  the  consul  to  state 
what  he  knew,  gave  the  senate  nearly  the  same  account  as  Vol- 
turcius  had  given,  concerning  the  intended  conflagration,  the 
massacre  of  respectable  citizens,  and  the  approach  of  the  enemy, 
adding  that  "  he  was  sent  by  Marcus  Crassus  to  assure  Catiline 
that  the  apprehension  of  Lentulus,  Cethegus,  and  others  of  tho 
conspirators,  ought  not  to  alarm  him,  but  that  he  should  hasten, 
with  so  much  the  more  expedition  to  the  city,  in  order  to  re- 
vive the  courage  of  the  rest,  and  to  facilitate  the  escape  of  those 
in  custinlv."~J  When  Tarquinius  named  Crassus,  a  man  of  no- 
ble birth,  of  very  great  wealth,  and  of  vast  influence,  some, 
thinking  the  statement  incredible,  others,  though  they  sup- 
posed it  true,  yet,  judging  that  at  such  a  crisis  a  man  of  such 
power30  was  rather  to  be  soothed  than  irritated  (most  of  them, 
too,  from  personal  reasons,  being  under  obligation  to  Crassus), 
exclaimed  that  he  was  "  a  false  witness,"  and.demanded  that  the 
matter  should  be  put  to  the  vote.  Cicero,  accordingly,  taking 
their  opinions,  a  full  senate  decreed  "  that  the  testimony  of  Tar- 
quiuius  appeared  false  ;  that  he  himself  should  be  kept  in  pri- 
son ;  and  that  no  further  liberty  of  speaking31  should  be  granted 
him,  unless  he  should  name  the  person  at  whose  instigation  he 
had  fabricated  so  shameful  a  calumny." 

There  were  some,  at  that  time,  who  thought  that  this  affair 
was  contrive!  by  Publius  Autronius,  in  order  that  the  interest 
of  Crassus,  if  he  were  accused,  might,  from  participation  in  the 
danger,  more  readily  screen  the  rest.  Others  said  that  Tar- 
quinius was  suborned  by  Cicero,  that  Crassus  might  not  dis- 
turb the  state,  by  taking  upon  him,  as  was  his  custom/2  the 

28  XLVIII.  If  the  public  faith  were  pledged  to  him]  81  fides  pnUica  data 
6S8et.  See  c.  47. 

2a  And  to  facilitate  the  escape  of  those  in  custody]  Et  ttli  facilius  e  peri- 
culo  eriptrentur. 

30  A  man  of  such  power]  Tanta  vis  fiominis.  So  great  power  of  the 
man. 

j  31  Liberty  of  speaking]  Potestatem.  '"  Potestatem  loquendi."  Cyprianus 
Popina.  As  it  did  not  appear  that  he  spoke  the  truth,  the  pledge  which 
the  senate  had  given  him,  on  condition  that  he  spoke  the  truth,  went  for 
nothing ;  he  was  not  allowed  to  continue  his  evidence,  and  was  sent  to 
prison. 

;  -  As  was  his  custom]  More  svo.  Plutarch,  in  his  Life  of  Crassus,  relates 
that  frequently  when  Pompey,  Caesar,  and  Cicero,  had  refused  to  undertake 
the  defense  of  certain  persons,  as  being  unworthy  of  their  support,  Cnissiw 
would  plead  in  their  behalf;  and  that  he  thus  gained  great  popularity 
•unoug  the  common  people. 


52  SALLUST. 

defense  of  the  criminals.  That  this  attack  on  his  character 
was  made  by  Cicero,  I  afterward  heard  Crassus  himself  assert. 
XLIX.  Yet,  at  the  same  time,  neither  by  interest,  nor  by  so- 
licitation, nor  by  bribes,  could  Quintus  Catulus,  and  Caius  Piso, 
prevail  upon  Cicero  to  have  Caius  Caesar  falsely  accused,  either 
by  means  of  the  Allobroges,  or  any  other  evidence.  Both  of 
these  men  were  at  bitter  enmity  with  Cajsar ;  Piso,  as  having 
been  attacked  by  him,  when  he  was  on33  his  trial  for  extor- 
tion, on  a  charge  of  having  illegally  put  to  death  a  Transpadane 
Gaul ;  Catulus,  as  having  hated  him  ever  since  he  stood  for 
(he  pontificate,  because,  at  an  advanced  age,  and  after  filling 
the  highest  offices,  he  had  been  defeated  by  Cassar,  who  was 
then  comparatively  a  youth.34  The  opportunity,  too,  seemed 
favorable  for  such  an  accusation ;  for  CaBsar,  by  extraordinary 
generosity  in  private,  and  by  magnificent  exhibitions  in  public,35 
had  fallen  greatly  into  debt.  But  when  they  failed  to  persuade 
the  consul  to  such  injustice,  they  themselves,  by  going  from  one 
person  to  another,  and  spreading  fictions  of  their  own,  which 
(hey  pretended  to  have  heard  from  Volturcius  or  the  Allobroges, 
excited  such  violent  odium  against  him,  that  certain  Roman 
knights,  who  were  stationed  as  an  armed  guard  round  the  Tem- 
ple of  Concord,  being  prompted,  either  by  the  greatness  of  the 
danger,  or  by  the  impulse  of  a  high  spirit,  to  testify  more  open- 
ly their  zeal  for  the  republic,  threatened  Caasar  with  their  swords 
as  he  went  out  of  the  senate-house. 

53  XLIX.  Fiso,  ns  having  been  attacked  by  him,  when  he  was  on,  etc.} 
Piso,  oppugnaiu-s  in  judicio  repetundarum  propter  cujusdam  Trans^i 
sitpjilictuminjitstwn.  Such  is  the  reading  and  punctuation  of  Corti us.  Soimi 
editions  insert  pecvniarum  before  repetundarum,  and  some  a  comma  after  it. 
I  have  interpreted  the  passage  in  conformity  with  the  explanation  of 
Kritzins,  which  seems  to  me  the  most  judicious  that  has  been  offered.  Op- 
pugnatm,  says  he,  is  equivalent  to  graoitur  vexatus,  or  violently  assailed; 
and  Piso  was  thus  assailed  by  Csesar  on  account  of  his  unjust  execution  of 
theGanl;  the  words  in  judifio  repetundarum  merely  mark  the  time  when 
Ctesar's  attack  was  made.  While  he  was  on  his  trial  for  one  tiling,  he  was 
attacked  by  Csesar  for  another.  Gerlach,  observing  that  the  words  in  judicio 
are  wanting  in  one  MS.,  would  omit  them,  and  make  oppuynatus  govern 
pcwniarum  repetundarum^  as  if  it  were  accasatus:  a  change  which  would 
certainly  not  improve  the  passage.  The  Galli  Transpadani  seem  to  have 
been  much  attached  to  Csesar ;  see  Cic.  Ep.  ad  Att.,  v.  2 ;  ad  Fain, 
xvi.  12. 

=*  Comparatively  a  youth]  Adolescentolo.  Caesar  was  then  in  the  thirty- 
third,  or,  as  some  say,  the  thirty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  See  the  note  on 
this  word,  c.  3. 

3*  By  magnificent  exhibitions  in  public]  Publice  maximis  munerUnm. 
Shows  of  gladiators. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  5;j 

L.  While  these  occurrences  were  passing  in  the  senate,  and 
while  rewards  were  being  voted,  an  approbation  of  their  evi, 
deuce,  to  the  Allobrogian  deputies  and  to  Titus  Volturcius,  the 
freedmen,  and  some  of  the  other  dependents  of  Leutulus,  were 
urging  the  artisans  and  slaves,  in  various  directions  throughout 
the  city,30  to  attempt  his  rescue ;  some,  too,  applied  to  the  ring- 
leaders of  the  mob,  who  were  always  ready  to  disturb  the  state 
for  pay.  Cethegus,  at  the  same  time,  was  soliciting,  through 
his  agents,  his  slaves37  and  freedinen,  men  trained  to  deeds  of 
audacity,  to  collect  themselves  into  an  armed  body,  and  force  a 
way  into  his  place  of  confinement. 

The  consul,  when  he  heard  that  these  things  were  in  agita- 
tion, having  distributed  armed  bodies  of  men,  as  the  circum- 
stances and  occasion  demanded,  called  a  meeting  of  the  senate, 
and  desired  to  know  "  what  they  wished  to  be  done  concerning 
those  who  had  been  committed  to  custody."  A  full  senate,  how- 
ever, had  but  a  short  time  before38  declared  them  traitors  to 
their  country.  On  this  occasion,  Decimus  Junius  Silanus,  who, 
as  consul  elect,  was  first  asked  his  opinion,  moved38  that  capital 
punishment  should  be  inflicted,  not  only  on  those  who  were  in 
confinement,  but  also  on  Lucius  Cassius,  Publius  Furius,  Publius 
Umbrenus,  and  Quintus  Annius,  if  they  should  be  apprehended; 
but  atVerward,  being  influenced  by  the  speech  of  Caius  Csesar, 
he  said  that  he  would  go  over  to  the  opinion  of  Tiberius  Nero,40 

38  L.  In  various  directions  throughput  the  city]  Varils  itineribus — in  vicis. 
Going  hither  and  thither  through  the  streets. 

3?  Slaves]  Familiam.  "  Servos  suos,  qui  proprie/araiZia."  Cortius.  Fa- 
milia  is  a  number  of  famuli. 

38  A  full  senate,  however,  had  but  a  short  time  before,  etc.]  The  senate 
had  already  decreed  that  they  were  enemies  to  their  country  ;  Cicero  now 
calls  a  meeting  to  ascertain  what  sentence  sliould  be  passed  on  them. 

39  On  this  occasion — moved]  Tunc—deireverat.  The  tune  (or,  as  most  edi- 
tors have  it,  turn)  must  be  referred  to  the  second  meeting  ot  the  senate,  for 
it  does  not  appear  that  any  proposal  concerning  the  punishment  of  the 
prisoners  was  made  at  the  first  meeting.    There  would  be  no  doubt  on  this 
point,  were  it  not  for  the  pluperfect  tense,  decreverat.     I  have  translated  it 
as  the  perfect.    We  must  suppose  that  Sallust  had  his  thoughts  on  Csesar'a 
speech,  which  was  to  follow,  and  signifies  that  all   this  business  had  been 
done,  before  Caesar  addressed  the  house.   Kritzius  thinks  that  the  pluperfect 
wus  referred  by  Sallust,  not  to  Caesar's  speech,  but  to  the  decree  of  the  sen- 
ate which  was  finally  made;  but  this  is  surely  a  less  satisfactory  method  of 
settling  the  matter.    Sallust  often  uses  the  pluperfect,  where  his  reader 
would  expect  the  perfect ;  see,  for  instance,  concusserat,  at  the  beginning 
of  c.  24. 

i°  That  he  would  go  over  to  the  opinion  of  Tiberius  Nero]  Pedibus  in  sen- 
tenlian  Tib.  Neronis — iturum.  Any  question  submitted  to  the  senate  was 
decided  by  the  majority  of  votes,  which  was  ascertained  either  by  numera- 


54  SALLUST. 

who  had  proposed  that  the  guards  should  be  increased,  and 
that  the  senate  should  deliberate,  further  on  the  matter.  Caesar, 
when  it  came  to  his  turn,  being  asked  his  opinion  by  the  con- 
sul, spoke  to  the  following  effect: 

LI.  "It  becomes  all  men,41  Conscript  Fathers,  who  deliberata 
on  dubious  matters,  to  be  influenced  neither  by  hatred,  affec- 
tion, anger,  nor  pity.  The  mind,  when  such  feelings  obstruct 
its  view,  can  not  easily  see  what  is  right ;  nor  has  any  human 
being  consulted,  at  the  same  moment,  his  passion  and  his  inter- 
est. When  the  mind  is  freely  exerted,  its  reasoning  is  sound  ; 
but  passion,  if  it  gain  possession  of  it,  becomes  its  tyrant,  and 
reason  is  powerless. 

"  I  could  easily  mention,  Conscript  Fathers,  numerous  exam- 
ples of  kings  and  nations,  who,  swayed  by  resentment  or  com- 
passion, have  adopted  injudicious  courses  of  conduct ;  but  I  had 
rather  speak  of  these  instances  in  which  our  ancestors,  in  op- 
position to  the  impulse  of  passion,  acted  with  wisdom  and  sound 
policy. 

"  In  the  Macedonian  war,  which  we  carried  on  against  king 
Perses,  the  great  and  powerful  state  of  Rhodes,  which  had  risen 
by  the  aid  of  the  Roman  people,  was  faithless  and  hostile  to  us ; 
yet,  when  the  war  was  ended,  and  the  conduct  of  the  Rhodians 
was  taken  into  consideration,  our  forefathers  left  them  unmolest- 
ed lest  any  should  say  that  war  was  made  upon  them  for  the 
sake  of  seizing  their  wealth,  rather  than  of  punishing  their 
faithlessness.  Throughout  the  Punic  war,  too,  though  the  Car- 
thaginians, both  during  peace  and  in  suspension  of  arms, 
Avere  guilty  of  many  acts  of  injustice,  yet  our  ancestors  never 
took  occasion  to  retaliate,  but  considered  rather  what  was 
worthy  of  themselves,  than  what  might  be  justly  inflicted  on 
their  enemies. 

"  Similar  caution,  Conscript  Fathers,  is  to  be  observed  by 

tio.  a  counting  of  the  votes,  or  by  diacessio,  when  those  who  were  of  ono 
opinion,  at  the  direction  of  the  presiding  magistrate,  passed  over  to  one  side 
of  the  house,  and  those  who  were  of  the  contrary  opinion,  to  the  other.  See 
Aul.  Gell.  xiv.  7  ;  Suet.  Tib.  31 ;  Adam's  Eoin.  Ant. ;  Dr.  Smith's  Diction- 
ary, Art.  Senntus. 

41  LI.  It  becomes  all  men,  etc.]  The  beginning1  of  this  speech,  attributed  to 
Caesar,  is  imitated  from  Demosthenes,  TLepi  TUV  EV  Xepaow/ov  Trpay/tuTuv  ; 
*E(5ei  /z£f,  u  uvdpef  Adyvaloi,  rotif  ^eyovra^  unavraq  tv  vfilv  pr/re  irpuq 
tydpav  iroieirsftai  'Sioyov  /irjAev a,  ftrjre  rrpoc  x<*Plv-  "It  should  be  incum- 
bent on  all  who  speak  before  you,  O  Athenians,  to  advance  no  sentiment 
with  any  view  either  to  enmity  or  to  favor." 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  55 

yourselves,  that  the  guilt  of  Lentulus,  and  the  other  conspira- 
tors, may  not  have  greater  weight  with  you  than  your  own 
dignity,  ftnd  that  you  may  not  regard  your  indignation  more 
than  your  character.  If,  indeed,  a  punishment  adequate  to  their 
crimes  be  discovered,  I  consent  to  extraordinary  measures  ;"  but 
if  the  enormity  of  their  crime  exceeds  whatever  can  be  devised,43 
I  think  that  we  should  inflict  only  such  penalties  as  the  laws 
have  provided. 

"  Most  of  those,  who  have  given  their  opinions  before  me, 
have  deplored,  in  studied  and  impressive  language,"  the  sad 
fate  that  threatens  the  republic ;  they  have  recounted  the  bar- 
barities of  war,  and  the  afflictions  that  would  fall  on  the  van- 
quished ;  they  have  told  us  that  maidens  would  be  dishonored, 
and  youths  abused ;  that  children  would  be  torn  from  the  em- 
braces of  their  parents ;  that  matrons  would  be  subjected  to  the 
pleasure  of  the  conquerors ;  that  temples  and  dwelling-houses 
would  be  plundered ;  that  massacres  and  fires  would  follow ; 
ane  that  every  place  would  be  filled  with  arms,  corpses,  blood, 
and  lamentation.  But  to  what  end,  in  the  name  of  the  eternal 
gods  !  was  such  eloquence  directed  ?  Was  it  intended  to  ren- 
der you  indignant  at  the  conspiracy  ?  A  speech,  no  doubt,  will 
inflame  him  whom  so  frightful  and  monstrous  a  reality  has  not 
provoked  !  Far  from  it :  for  to  no  man  does  evil,  directed  against 
himself,  appear  a  light  matter ;  many,  on  the  contrary,  have  felt 
it  more  seriously  than  was  right. 

"But  to  different  persons,  Conscript  Fathers,  different  degrees 
of  license  are  allowed.  If  those  who  pass  a  life  sunk  in  obscur- 
ity, commit  any  error,  through  excessive  anger,  few  become 
aware  of  it,  for  their  fame  is  as  limited  as  their  fortune  ;  but  of 
those  who  live  invested  with  extensive  power,  and  in  an  exalted 
station,  the  whole  world  knows  the  proceedings.  Thus  in  the 
highest  position  there  is  the  least  liberty  of  action ;  and  it  be- 
comes us  to  indulge  neither  partiality  nor  aversion,  but  least  of 
all  animosity ;  for  what  in  others  is  called  resentment,  is  in  the 
powerful  termed  violence  and  cruelty. 

42  I  consent  to  extraordinary  measures]  Novum  concilium  adprobo.   "  That 
is,  I  consent  that  you  depart  from  the  usage  of  your  ancestors,  by  which 
Eoman  citizens  were  protected  from  death."     Bernmif. 

43  Whatever  can  be  devised]  Omnium  ingenia-. 

44  Studied  and  impressive  language]  Composite  al<jue magnifice.  Composite, 
in  language  nicely  put  together ;  elegantly.   Magnifies},  in  striking  or  impos- 
ing terms.    Composite  is  applied  to  the  speech  of  Caesar,  by  Cato,  in  the  fol- 
lowing chapter. 


56  SALLUST, 

"  I  am  indeed  of  opinion,  Conscript  Fathers,  that  the  utmost 
degree  of  torture  is  inadequate  to  punish  their  crime  ;  but  the 
generality  of  mankind  dwell  on  that  which  happens  last,  and, 
in  the  case  of  malefactors,  forget  their  guilt,  and  talk  only  of 
their  punishment,  should  that  punishment  have  been  inordinate- 
ly severe.  I  feel  assured,  too,  that  Decimus  Silanus,  a  man  of 
spirit  and  resolution,  made  the  suggestions  which  he  offered, 
from  zeal  for  the  state,  and  that  he  had  no  view,  in  so  import- 
ant a  matter,  to  favor  or  to  enmity ;  such  I  know  to  be  his 
character,  and  such  his  discretion.46  Yet  his  proposal  appears 
to  me,  I  will  not  say  cruel  (for  what  can  be  cruel  that  is  direct- 
ed against  such  characters  ?),  but  foreign  to  our  policy.  For 
assuredly,  Silanus,  either  your  fears,  or  their  treason,  must  have 
induced  you,  a  consul  elect,  to  propose  this  new  kind  of  punish- 
ment. Of  fear  it  is  unnecessary  to  speak,  when  by  the  prompt 
activity  of  that  distinguished  man  our  consul,  such  numerous 
forces  are  under  arms ;  and  as  to  the  punishment,  we  may  say, 
what  is  indeed  the  truth,  that  in  trouble  and  distress,  death  is  a 
relief  from  suffering,  and  not  a  torment  ;40  that  it  puts  an  end  to 
all  human  woes ;  and  that,  beyond  it,  there  is  no  place  either 
for  sorrow  or  joy. 

"  But  why,  in  the  name  of  the  immortal  gods,  did  you 
not  add  to  your  proposal,  Silanus,  that,  before  they  were 
put  to  death,  they  should  be  punished  with  the  scourge  ? 
Was  it  because  the  Porcian  law47  forbids  it  ?  But  other 

45  Such  I  know  to  be  his  character,  such  his  discretion]  Eos  mores,  earn 
modestiam  viri  cognovi.  I  have  translated  modestiam,  discretion,  which  seems 
to  be  the  proper  meaning  of  the  word.  Beauzee  renders  it  prudence,  and 
adds  a  note  upon  it,  which  may  be  worth  transcription.  "  I  translate  mo- 
destia"  says  liCj  "by  prudence,  and  think  myself  authorized  to  do  so.  Sic 
definitur  a  Sfoicis,  says  Cicero  (De  Off.  i.  40),  ut  modestia  sit  sicentia  earitm 
rerum,  quw  agentvr,  aut  dkentvr^  loco  suo  collocandantm  ;  and  shortly  after- 
ward, Sicjitut  modeatia  ecientia  sit  ojmortunitatis  idoneomm  ad  agendum  few- 


proper  in 
the  words  of  Cicero." 

46  That — death  is  a  relief  from  suffering,  not  a  torment,  etc.]  This  Epi- 
curean doctrine  prevailed  very  much  at  JRorne  in  Caesar's  time,  and  after- 
ward.   We  may  very  well  suppose  Caesar  to  have  been  a  sincere  convert  to 
it.  Cato  alludes  to  this  passage  in  the  speech  which  follows  ;  as  also  Cicero, 
in  his  fourth  Oration  against  Catiline,  c.  4.    See,  for  opinions  on  this  point, 
the  first  book  of  Cicero's  Tusculan  Questions. 

47  The  Poreian  law]  Lex  Portia.   A  law  proposed  by  P.  Porcius  Lceca,  ono 
of  the  tribunes,  A.  u.  c.  454,  which  enacted  that  no.  one  should  bind,  scour^-, 
or  kill  a  Konian  citizen.    See  Liv.,  x.  9  ;  We.  pro.  Eabir.,  3,  4;  Verr.,  v.  C3; 
do  Rep.,  ii,  31. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  5f 

laws4"  forbid  condemned  citizens  to  be  deprived  of  life,  and  allow 
them  to  go  into  exile.  Or  was  it  because  scourging  is  a 
severer  penalty  than  death  ?  Yet  what  can  be  too  severe,  or 
too  harsh,  toward  men  convicted  of  such  an  offense  ?  But  if 
scourging  be  a  milder  punishment  than  death,  how  is  it  consist- 
ent to  observe  the  law  as  to  the  smaller  point,  when  you  disre- 
gard it  as  to  the  greater  ? 

"But  who  it  may  be  asked,  will  blame  any  severity  that  shall 
be  decreed  against  these  parricides49  of  their  country  ?  I  answer 
that  time,  the  course  of  events,50  and  fortune,  whose  caprice 
governs  nations,  may  blame  it.  Whatever  shall  fall  on  the 
traitors,  will  fall  on  them  justly ;  but  it  is  for  you,  Conscript 
Fathers,  to  consider  well  what  you  resolve  to  inflict  on  others. 
All  precedents  productive  of  evil  effects,51  have  had  their  origin 
from  what  was  good ;  but  when  a  government  passes  into  the 
hands  of  the  ignorant  or  unprincipled,  any  new  example  of  se- 
verity,52 inflicted  on  deserving  and  suitable  objects,  is  extended 
to  those  that  are  improper  and  undeserving  of  it.  The  Lacc- 
daamonians,  when  they  had  conquered  the  Athenians,53  appoint- 
ed thirty  men  to  govern  their  state.  These  thirty  began  their 
administration  by  putting  to  death,  even  without  a  trial,  all 
who  were  notoriously  wicked,  or  publicly  detestable ;  acts  at 
which  the  people  rejoiced,  and  extolled  their  justice.  But  after- 
ward, when  their  lawless  power  gradually  increased,  they  pro- 
ceeded, at  their  pleasure,  to  kill  the  good  and  the  bad  indis- 

*8  Other  laws]  Alice  leges.  So  Caesar  says  below,  "  Turn  lex  Porcia  alisequo 
paratas,  quibus  legibus  auxiliuin  damnatis  permissum ;"  what  other  laws 
these  were  is  uncertain.  One  of  them,  however,  was  the  Sempronian  law, 
proposed  by  Caius  Gracchus,  which  ordained  that  sentence  should  not  be 
passed  on  the  life  of  a  Roman  citizen  without  the  order  of  the  people.  See 
Cic.  pro  Kabir.  4.  So  "  O  lex  Porcia  legesque  Semprouiae  !"  Cic.  in  Verr., 
v.  63. 

48  Parricides]  See  c.  14,  32. 

60  The  course  of  events']  Dies.  "Id  est,  temporis  momentum  (der  veran 
dcrte  Zeitpunkt).'1'1  Dietscfi.  Things  change,  and  that  which  is  approved  at 
one  period,  is  blamed  at  another.  Tempus  and  dies  are  sometimes  joined 
(Liv..  xxii.  39,  ii.  45),  as  if  not  only  time  in  general,  but  particular  periods, 
affront  day  to  day,  were  intended. 

Sl  All  precedents  productive  of  evil  effects]  Omnia  mala  exempla.  Exam- 
ples of  severe  punishments  are  meant. 

•a  Any  new  example  of  severity,  etc.]  Novum  illud  exempli/m  ab  dignis 
et  idonew  ad  indignos  et  non  idoneos^  transferetar.  Gerlach,  Kritzius,  Dietsch, 
and  Bernouf,  agree  to  giving  to  this  passage  the  sense  which  is  given  in  the 
translation.  Digni  and  idonei  are  here  used  in  a  bad  sense,  for  dignl  et 
idomiqui pcend  qfficiantur,  deserving  and  fit  objects  for  punishment. 

63  When  they  had  conquered  the  Athenians]  At  the  conclusion  of  the  Pelo- 
ponnesian  war. 

3* 


58  SALLUST 

criminately,  and  to  strike  terror  into  all ;  and  thus  the  state, 
overpowered  arid  enslaved,  paid  a  heavy  penalty  for  its  impru- 
dent exultation. 

"  Within  our  own  memory,  too,  when  the  victorious  Svi!:i 
ordered  Damasippus,54  and  others  of  similar  character,  who 
had  risen  by  distressing  their  country,  to  be  put  to  death,  who 
did  not  commend  the  proceeding  ?  All  exclaimed  th;it  wicl.r  1 
and  factious  men,  who  had  troubled  the  s'ate  with  their  sce.i- 
iious  practices,  had  justly  forfeited  their  lives.  Yet  thi:;  pro- 
ceeding was  the  commencement  of  great  bloodshed.  For 
whenever  any  one  coveted  the  mansion  or  villa,  or  even  tho 
plate  or  apparel  of  another,  he  exerted  his  influence  to  have 
him  numbered  among  the  proscribed.  Thus  they,  to  whom 
the  death  of  Damasippus  had  been  a  subject  of  joy,  were  soon 
after  dragged  to  death  themselves  ;  nor  was  there  any  cessation 
of  slaughter,  until  Sylla  had  glutted  all  his  partisans  with 
riches. 

"  Such  excesses,  indeed,  I  do  not  fear  from  Marcus  Tullius, 
or  in  these  times.  But  in  a  large  state  there  arise  many  men 
of  various  dispositions.  At  some  other  period,  and  under 
another  consul,  who,  like  the  present,  may  have  an  army  ?.t  his 
command,  some  false  accusation  may  be  credited  as  true  ;  and 
when,  with  our  example  for  a  precedent,  the  consul  shall  have 
drawn  the  sword  on  the  authority  of  the  senate,  who  shall  stay 
its  progress,  or  moderate  its  fury  ? 

"  Our  ancestors,  Conscript  Fathers,  were  never  deficient  in 
conduct  or  courage  ;  nor  did  pride  prevent  them  from  imitating 
the  customs  of  other  nations,  if  they  appeared  deserving  of  re- 
gard. Their  armor,  and  weapons  of  war,  they  borrowed  from 
the  Samnites ;  their  ensigns  of  authority,"  for  the  most  part, 
from  the  Etrurians ;  and,  in  short,  whatever  appeared  eligible 
to  them,  whether  among  allies  or  among  enemies,  they  adopted 
at  home  with  the  greatest  readiness,  being  more  inclined  to 

M  Damasippus]  "  lie,  in  the  consulship  of  Caius  Marius,  the  younger, 
and  Cneius  Carbo,  was  city  prsetor,  and  put  to  death  some  of  the  most  emi- 
nent senators,  a  short  time  before  the  victory  of  Sylla.  See  Veil.  Paterc.  ii. 
26."  Bernouf. 

**  Ensigns  of  authority]  Insignia  magistratum.  "  The  fasces  and  axes  of 
the  twelve  lictors,  the  robe  adorned  with  purple,  the  curule  chair,  and  tho 
ivory  scepter.  For  the  Etrurians,  as  Dionysius  Halicarnassensis  relates,  hav- 
ing been  subdued,  in  a  nine  years'  war,  by  Tarquimus  Priscus,  and  having 
obtained  peace  on  condition  of  submitting  to  him  as  their  sovereign,  pre- 
sented him  with  the  insiqnia  of  their  own  mouarchs.  See  Strabo,  lib.  v. ; 
Floras,  i.  5."  Kuhnhardt. 


CONSPIRACY   OF  CATILINE  59 

emulate  merit  than  to  be  jealous  of  it.  But  at  the  same  time, 
adopting  a  practice  from  Greece,  they  punished  their  citizens 
with  the  scourge,  and  inflicted  capital  punishment  on  such  as 
were  condemned.  When  the  republic,  however,  became  power- 
ful, and  faction  grew  strong  from  the  vast  number  of  citizens, 
men  began  to  involve  the  innocent  in  condemnation,  and  other 
like  abuses  were  practiced  ;  and  it  was  then  that  the  Porcian 
and  other  laws  were  provided,  by  which  condemned  citizens 
were  allowed  to  go  into  exile.  This  lenity  of  our  ancestors, 
Conscript  Fathers,  I  regard  as  a  very  strong  reason  why  we 
should  not  adopt  any  new  measures  of  severity.  For  assuredly 
there  was  greater  merit  and  wisdom  in  those,  who  raised  so 
mighty  an  empire  from  humble  means,  than  in  us,  who  can 
scarcely  preserve  what  they  so  honorably  acquired.  Am  I  of 
opinion,  then,  you  will  ask,  that  the  conspirators  should  be  set 
free,  and  thr.t  the  army  of  Catiline  should  thus  be  increased  ? 
Far  from  it  ;  my  recommendation  is,  that  their  property  be 
confiscated,  and  that  they  themselves  be  kept  in  custody  in 
such  of  the  municipal  towns  as  are  best  able  to  bear  the  ex- 
pense ;60  that  no  one  hereafter  bring  their  case  before  the  sen- 
ate, or  speak  on  it  to  the  people  ;  and  that  the  senate  now  give 
their  opinion,  that  he  who  shall  act  contrary  to  this,  will  act 
against  the  republic  and  the  general  safety." 

III.  When  Caesar  had  ended  his  speech,  the  rest  briefly  ex- 
pressed their  assent,07  some  to  one  speaker,  and  some  to  another, 
in  support  of  their  different  proposals  ;  but  Marcius  Porcius 
Cato,  being  asked  his  opinion,  made  a  speech  to  the  following 
purport  : 

"  My  feelings,  Conscript  Fathers,   are  extremely  different,68 

56  Best  able  to  bear  the  expense]  Jfaxime  opibus  valent.  Are  possessed 
of  most  resources. 

67  LII.  The  rest  briefly  expressed  their  assent,  etc.]  Cccteri  rerbo,  alias 
alii,  varie  aseentitbantur.  Verbo  asstntiebantur  signifies  that  they  expressed 
their  assent  merely  by  a  word  or  two,  as  azsentior  Silano,  awentior  Tiberin 
Keroni,  aut  Co-sari,  the  three  who  had  already  spoken.  Varie,  "  in  suppoit 
of  their  different  proposals." 

66  My  feelings,  Conscript  Fathers,  are  extremely  different,  etc.]  Lc/rnj 
mihi  alia  men*  tst,  P.  C'.,  etc.  The  commencement  of  Cato's  speech  is 
evidently  copied  from  the  beginning  of  the  third  Olynthiac  of  Demos- 
thenes :  'Ov%l  ravra  Trapiararai  fioi  yivuaKeiv,  <I>  uv6pe£  '  A.0ijvaloc,  orav 


~s  etc  ru  Trpd-yfiara  uTro/?/.ei/;o  KOI  orav  Trpcf  Tovf  ?.f>-/ov£  oiif  UKOVU'  roi't; 
utv  }«/)  /.('<;  orf  :rfpt  rof  Tiftupjjaaadai  Qi/umrov  6pu  yiyvo/Ltt-vovf,  TU  6£ 
•npuy/j.ara  hf  rovro  irpof/Kavra  wore  unu£  pi  Tteicuiieda  uvrol  Trporepov 
KO-KiJf  aKtipaaOai  fiiw,  "  I  am  by  no  means  affected  in  the  same  manner, 


60  SALLUST. 

when  1  contemplate  our  circumstances  and  dangers,  and  when 
I  revolve  in  my  mind  the  sentiments  of  some  who  have  spoken 
before  me.  Those  speakers,  as  it  seems  to  me,  have  considered 
only  how  to  punish  the  traitors  who  have  raised  war  against 
their  country,  their  parents,  their  altars,  and  their  homes  ;M  hut 
the  state  of  affairs  warns  us  rather  to  secure  ourselves  against 
them,  than  to  take  counsel  as  to  what  sentence  we  should  pass 
upon  them.  Other  crimes  you  may  punish  after  they  have 
been  committed  ;  but  as  to  this,  unless  you  prevent  its  com- 
mission, you  will,  when  it  has  once  taken  effect,  in  vain  appeal 
to  justice.0"  When  the  city  is  taken,  no  power  is  left  to  the 
vanquished. 

"  But,  in  the  name  of  the  immortal  gods,  I  call  upon  you, 
who  have  always  valued  your  mansions  and  villas,  your  statues 
and  pictures,  at  a  higher  price  than  the  welfare  of  your  coun- 
try;  if  you  wish  to  preserve  those  possessions,  of  whatever 
kind  they  are,  to  which  you  are  attached ;  if  you  wish  to  se- 
cure quiet  for  the  enjoyment  of  your  pleasures,  arouse  your- 
selves, and  act  in  defense  of  your  country.  We  are  not  now 
debating  on  the  revenues,  or  on  injuries  done  to  our  allies,  but 
our  liberty  and  our  life  is  at  stake. 

"Often,  Conscript  Fathers,  have  I  spoken  at  great  length  in 
this  assembly  ;  often  have  I  complained  of  the  luxury  and 
avarice  of  our  citizens,  and,  by  that  very  means,  have  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  many.  I,  who  never  excused  to  myself,  or 

At  hcniiuis,  when  I  review  the  Plate  of  our  affairs,  and  when  I  attend  to  those 
speakers  who  have  now  declared  their  sentiments.  They  insist  that  wo 
should  punish  1'hilip,  but  our  affairs,  situated  as  they  now  appear,  warn 
us  to  guard  against  tlie  dangers  with  which  we  ourselves  are  threatened.'" 
Island,. 

*•  Their  altars  and  their  homes]  Aris  atquefocit  suis.  "  When  arm  and 
foci  are  joined,  beware  of  supposing  that  they  are  to  be  distinguished  as 
referring  the  one  (axe)  to  the  public  temples,  and  the  other  (foci)  to  pri- 
vate dwellings.  *  *  *  Both  are  to  be  understood  of  private  houses,  in 
•which  the  ara  belonged  to  the  Dii  Ptnatts,  and  was  placed  in  the  implu- 
viiim  in  the  inner  part  of  the  house  ;  the /«•/<«  was  dedicated  to  the  lares, 
and  was  in  the  hall."  Ernesti,  Clav.  Cic.,  sub.  v.  Ara.  Of  the  commenta- 
r  tors  on  Sallust,  Kritzius  is,  I  believe,  the  only  one  who  has  concurred  in, 
1  this  notion  of  Ernesti ;  Langius  and  Dietsch  (with  Cortius)  adhere  to  the 
common  opinion  that  arcu  are  the  public  altars.  Dietsch  refers,  for  a  com- 
plete refutation  of  Ernesti,  to  G.  A.  B.  Hertzberg  de  Dils  Rmnanarvm  Pe- 
natibus,  Haiti*,  1840,  p.  64 ;  a  book  which  I  have  not  seen.  Certainly,  in  the 
observation  of  Cicero  ad  Att.,  vii.  11,  u  Non  est  respublica  in  panetibus,  seel 
in  aria  et  focis,"  arce.  must  be  considered  (as  Schiller  observes)  to  denote 
the  public  altars  and  national  religion.  See  Schiller's  Lex.  v.  Ara. 

"«  In  vain  appeal  to  justice]  Frusta  judicia  implores.    Judicia,  trials,  to 
procure  the  inflictions  of  legal  penalties. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.         ..  Gl 

to  my  own  conscience,  the  commission  of  any  fault,  could  not 
easily  pardon  the  misconduct,1"  or  indulge  the  licentiousness, 
of  others.  But  though  you  little  regarded  my  remonstrances, 
yet  the  republic  remained  secure  ;  its  own  strength6"'  was  proof 
against  your  remissness.  The  question,  however,  at  present 
under  discussion,  is  not  whether  we  live  in  a  good  or  a  had 
state  of  morals ;  nor  how  great,  or  how  splendid,  the  empire 
of  the  Roman  people  is  ;  but  whether  these  things  around  us, 
of  whatever  value  they  are,  are  to  continue  our  own,  or  to  fall, 
with  ourselves,  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

"  In  such  a  case,  does  any  one  talk  to  me  of  gentleness  and 
compassion  ?  For  some  time  past,  it  is  true,  we  have  lost  the 
real  name  of  things  ;63  for  to  lavish  the  property  of  others  is 
called  generosity,  and  audacity  in  wickedness  -is  called  heroism  ; 
and  hence  the  state  is  reduced  to  the  brink  of  ruin.  But  let 
those,  who  thus  misname  things,  be  liberal,  since  such  is  the 
practice,  out  of  the  property  of  our  allies  ;  let  them  be  merci- 
ful to  the  robbers  of  the  treasury ;  but  let  them  not  lavish  our 
blood,  and,  while  they  spare  a  few  criminals,  bring  destruction 
on  all  the  guiltless. 

"  Cains  Caesar,  a  short  time  ago,  spoke  in  fair  and  elegant 
language, "*  before  this  assembly,  on  the  subject  of  life  and 
death  ;  considering  as  false,  I  suppose,  what  is  told  of  the 
dead  ;  that  the  bad,  going  a  different  way  from  the  good,  in- 

"  Could  not  easily  pardon  the  misconduct,  etc.]  Bafltd facile  alteri'is  In- 
Hdini  malffacta  conaona>Mm.  "  Coiild  not  easily  forgive  the  licentiousness 
of  auotlier  its  evil  deeds." 

62  Yet  the  republic  remained  secure ;  its  own  strength,  etc.]  Tamenrts- 
pnMica  firma,  opuUntia  negl-eqentiam  tolerahat.  This  is  Cortius's  reading; 
pome  editors,  as  Havercamp,  Kritziu*,  and  Dietsch,  insert  erat  after  firma. 
Whether  opulentia  is  the  nominative  or  ablative,  is  disputed.  "  Opnlenlui" 
Bays  Allen,  "  casum  sextum  intellige,  et  repete  respuMica,  (ad  tolfrabat)." 
u~Opi<lenlia,"  says  Kritzius,  "  melius  nominutivo  capiendutn  videtur;  nam 
qua;  sequuutur  verba  novam  enunciationein  efficiunt."  I  have  preferred 
to  take  it  as  a  nominative. 

»3  We  have  lost  the  real  names  of  things,  etc.]  Imitated  from  Thuydides, 
iii.  32:  Kat  r/}f  iiu&uav  d^iuaiv  T(JV  OVO/MTUV  t'f  rii  ipya  avrij^Aat-av  ry 
fiinaiuact.  TWj/a  (itv  ytip  u/.o-yiarof,  ilv6i>ia  cn^.traifxif  tvanicOr),  fie7.- 
/.uais  re  Trpoitr]()/)r,  dfrf.ta  ivirpf.Trt/f  TO  6i:  autypov.  TOV  avuvtipov  npoa^nf^o, 
Ktii  TO  Tpof  u~av  ovverbv,  ixi  ~av  upjov.  "The  ordinary  meaning  of 
•words  was  changed  by  them  as  they  thought  proper.  For  reckless  daring 
was  regarded  as  courage  that  was  true  to  its  friends;  prudent  delay,  as 
specious  cowardice  ;  moderation,  as  a  cloak  for  unmanliness  ;  being  intelli- 
gent in  every  thing,  as  being  useful  for  nothing."  Dale's  translation: 
Bohu's  Classical  Library. 

•*  Elegant  language]  Composite.    See  above,  c.  51. 


02  SALLTJST 

habit  places  gloomy,  desolate,  dreary,  and  full  of  horror.  lie 
accordingly  proposed  that  the  property  of  the  conspirators 
should  be  confiscated,  and  themselves  kept  in  custody  in  the 
municipal  towns  ;  fearing,  it  seems,  that,  if  they  remain  at 
Kome,  they  may  be  rescued  either  by  their  accomplices  in  the 
conspiracy,  or  by  a  hired  mob  ;  as  if,  forsooth,  the  mischievous 
and  profligate  were  to  be  found  only  in  the  city,  and  not  through 
the  whole  of  Italy,  or  as  if  desperate  attempts  would  not  be 
more  likely  to  succeed  where  there  is  less  power  to  resist 
them.  Jlis  proposal,  therefore,  if  he  fears  any  danger  from 
them,  is  absurd ;  but  if,  amid  such  universal  terror,  he  alone  is 
free  from  alarm,  it  the  more  concerns  me  to  fear  for  you  and 
myself. 

"  Be  assured,  then,  that  when  you  decide  on  the  fate  of  Len- 
tulus  and  the  other  prisoners,  you  at  the  same  time  determine 
that  of  the  army  of  Catiline,  and  of  all  the  conspirators. 
The  more  spirit  you  display  in  your  decision,  the  more  will 
their  confidence  be  diminished  ;  but  if  they  shall  perceive  you 
in  the  smallest  degree  irresolute,  they  will  advance  upon  you 
with  fury. 

"  Do  not  suppose  that  our  ancestors,  from  so  small  a  com- 
mencement, raised  the  republic  to  greatness  merely  by  force  of 
arms.  If  such  had  beeu  the  case,  we  should  enjoy  it  m  a  most 
excellent  condition;8'  for  of  allies  and  citizens,0"  as  well  as 
arms  and  horses,  we  have  a  much  greater  abundance  than  they 
had.  But  there  were  other  things  which  made  them  great, 
but  which  among  us  have  no  existence ;  such  as  industry  at 
home,  equitable  government  abroad,  and  minds  impartial  in 
council,  uninfluenced  by  any  immoral  or  improper  feeling. 
Instead  of  such  virtues,  we  have  luxury  and  avarice  ;  public- 
distress,  and  private  superfluity  ;  we  extol  wealth,  and  yield  lo 
indolence  ;  no  distinction  is  made  between  good  men  and  bad  ; 
and  ambition  usurps  the  honors  due  to  virtue.  Nor  is  this 
wonderful ;  since  you  study  each  his  individual  interest,  and 
since  at  home  you  are  slaves  to  pleasure,  and  here  to  money  or 
favor ;  and  hence  it  happens  that  an  attack  is  made  on  the  de- 
fenseless state. 

"But  on  these  subjects  I  shall  say  no  more.    Certain  citizen*, 

66  In  a  most  excellent  condition]  M'tltopi/lcherr/tmam.    See  c.  3fi. 
•"  For  of  allies  and  citizens,  etc.]  Imitated  from  Demosthenes,  Philinp, 
til.  4. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  03 

of  the  highest,  tank,  have  conspired  to  ruin  their  country; 
they  arc  engaging  the  Gauls,  the  lutterest  foes  of  the  Roman 
name,  to  join  in  a  war  against  us  ;  the  leader  of  the  enemy  i.5 
really  to  make  a  descent  upon  u.s  ;  and  do  you  hesitate,  even 
iu  such  circumstances,  how  to  treat  armed  incendia:  ies  arrested 
Avithin  your  walls  ?  I  advise  you  to  have  mercy  upon  them  ;" 
they  are  young  men  who  have  been  led  astray  by  ambition  ; 
send  them  away,  even  with  arms  in  their  hands.  But  such 
mercy,  and  such  clemency,  if  they  turn  those  arms  against  you, 
will  end  in  misery  to  yourselves.  The  case  is,  assuredly,  dan- 
cerous,  but  you  do  not  fear  it ;  yes,  you  fear  it  greatly,  but  you 
hesitate  how  to  act,  through  weakness  and  want  of  spirit,  wait- 
ing one  for  another,  and  trusting  to  the  immortal  gods,  who 
have  so  often  preserved  your  country  in  the  greatest  dangers. 
But  the  protection  of  the  gods  is  not  obtained  by  vows  and 
effeminate  supplications ;  it  is  by  vigilance,  activity,  and 
prudent  measures,  that  general  welfare  is  secured.  When  you 
are  once  resigned  to  sloth  and  indolence,  it  is  in  vain  that 
you  implore  the  gods  ;  for  they  are  then  indignant  and  threaten 
vengeance. 

"  In  the  days  of  our  forefathers,  Titus  Manlius  Torquatus, 
during  a  war  with  the  Gauls,  ordered  his  own  son  to  be  put  to 
death,  because  he  had  fought  with  an  enemy  contrary  to  orders. 
That  noble  youth  suffered  for  excess  of  bravery ;  and  do  you 
hesitate  what  sentence  to  pass  on  the  most  inhuman  of  traitors  ? 
Perhaps  their  former  life  is  at  variance  with  their  present 
crime.  Spare,  then,  the  dignity  of  Lentulus,  if  he  has  ever 
spared  his  own  honor  or  character,  or  had  any  regard  for  gods 
or  for  men.  Pardon  the  youth  of  Cethegus,  unless  this  be  the 
second  time  that  he  has  made  war  upon  his  country.69  As 
to  Gabinius,  Statilms,  Cceparius,  why  should  I  make  any  re- 
mark upon  them  ?  Had  they  ever  possessed  the  smallest  share 
of  discretion,  they  would  never  have  engaged  in  such  a  plot 
against  their  country. 

"  In   conclusion,  Conscript   Fathers,  if  there  were   time  to 

*'  1  advise  joii  to  have  mercy  upon  them]  Miweamini  censeo,  i.  e.,  cenaeo 
iit  misereammi,  spoken  ironically.  Most  translators  have  taken  the  word* 
!!•  the  sense  of  "You  would  take  pity  on  them,  I  suppose,"  or  something 
similar. 

w  Unless  this  be  the  second  time  that  he  has  made  war  upon  his  country] 
"Cethegus  first  made  war  on  his  country  in  conjunction  with  Marius.'' 
Bernovf.  Whether  Sail  list  alludes  to  this,  or  intimates  (as  Gerlach  thinks) 
that  he  was  engaged  in  the  first  conspiracy,  is  doubtful. 


64  SALLUST. 

amend  an  error,  I  might  easily  suffer  yon,  since  you  disregard 
words,  to  be  corrected  by  experience  of  consequences.  But  we 
are  beset  by  dangers  on  all  sides ;  Catiline,  with  his  army,  is 
ready  to  devour  us ;""  while  there  are  other  enemies  within  the 
walls,  and  in  the  heart  of  the  city ;  nor  can  any  measures  be 
taken,  or  any  plans  arranged,  without  their  knowledge.  The 
more  necessary  is  it,  therefore,  to  act  with  promptitude.  What 
I  advise,  then,  is  this :  that  since  the  state,  by  a  treasonable 
combination  of  abandoned  citizens,  has  been  brought  into  the 
greatest  peril ;  and  since  the  conspirators  have  been  convicted 
on  the  evidence  of  Titus  Volturcius,  and  the  deputies  of  the 
Allobroges,  and  on  their  own  confession,  of  having  concerted 
massacres,  conflagrations,  and  other  horrible  and  cruel  out- 
rages, against  their  fellow-citizens  and  their  country,  punish- 
ment be  inflicted,  according  to  the  usage  of  our  ancestors,  on 
the  prisoners  who  have  confessed  their  guilt,  as  on  men  con- 
victed of  capital  crimes." 

LIII.  When  Cato  had  resumed  his  seat,  all  the  senators  of 
consular  dignity,  and  a  great  part  of  the  rest,70  applauded  his 
opinion,  and  extolled  his  firmness  of  mind  to  the  skies.  With 
mutual  reproaches,  they  accused  one  another  of  timidity,  while 
Cato  was  regarded  as  the  greatest  and  noblest  of  men ;  and  a 
decree  of  the  senate  was  made  as  he  had  advised. 

After  reading  and  hearing  of  the  many  glorious  achieve- 
ments which  the  Roman  people  had  performed  at  home  and  in 
the  field,  by  sea  as  well  as  by  land,  I  happened  to  be  led  to 
consider  what  had  been  the  great  foundation  of  such  illustrious 
deeds.  I  knew  that  the  Romans  had  frequently,  with  small 
bodies  of  men,  encountered  vast  armies  of  the  enemy  ;  I  was 
aware  that  they  had  carried  on  wars"'1  with  limited  forces 

•8  Is  ready  to  devour  us]  Faudbus  vryet.  Cortina,  Kritziua,  Gerlaoh, 
Burnouf,  Allen,  aud  Dietsch,  are  unanimous  in  interpreting  this  as  a  meta- 
phorical expression,  alluding  to  a  wild  beast  with  open  jaws  ready  to  spring 
upon  its  prey.  They  support  this  interpretation  by  Val.  Max.,  v.  3  :  "  Fan- 
cimis  npprehensam  veinpublicani ;"  Cic.  pro.  Cluent.,  31 :  "  Quum  faucibim 
premetur;"  and  Plant.  Casin.  v.  3,  4,  "  Manifesto  i'auoibns  teneor."  Soino 
editors  have  read  infaucit/ita,  and  understood  the  words  as  referring  to  the 
jaws  or  narrow  passes  of  Etruria,  where  Catiline  was  with  his  army. 

70  LIII.  All  the  senators  of  consular  dignity,  and  a  great  part  of  the 
rest]    Const/lares  otnnes,  itemque  senalus  nutffna  pats.     "As  the  consular* 
were  senators,  the  reader  would  perhaps  expect  Sallust  to  have  said  reliqui 
senatus,  but  itemque  is  equivalent  to  etprcnter  eos."     Dietsch. 

71  That  they  had  carried  oil  wars]  Bella  yeata.    That  wars  had  been  car- 
ried on  by  them. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  C5 

against  powerful  sovereigns;  that  they  had  often  sustained,  loo, 
the  violence  of  adverse  fortune ;  yet  that,  while  the  Greeks 
excelled  them  in  eloquence,  the  Gauls  surpassed  them  in  mili- 
tary glory.  After  much  reflection,  I  felt  convinced  that  the 
eminent  virtue  of  a  few  citizens  had  been  the  cause  of  all  these 
successes ;  and  hence  it  had  happened  that  poverty  had 
triumphed  over  riches,  and  a  few  over  a  multitude.  And  even 
in  later  times,  when  the  state  had  become  corrupted  by  luxury 
and  indolence,  the  republic  still  supported  itself,  by  its  own 
strength,  under  the  misconduct  of  its  generals  and  magistrates; 
when,  as  if  the  parent  stock  were  exhausted,73  there  was  cer- 
tainly not  produced  at  Rome,  for  many  years,  a  single  citizen 
of  eminent  ability.  Within  my  recollection,  however,  there 
arose  two  men  of  remarkable  powers,  though  of  very  different 
character,  Marcus  Cato  and  Caius  Caesar,  whom,  since  the  sub- 
ject has  brought  them  before  me,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  pass 
in  silence,  but  to  describe,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  the  dispo- 
sition and  manners  of  each. 

LIV.  Their  birth,  age,  and  eloquence,  were  nearly  on  an 
equality ;  their  greatness  of  mind  similar,  as  was  also  their  re- 

72  As  if  the  parent  stock  were  exhausted]  Siciiti  effofta parent/am.  This  is 
1'ic  reading  of  Cortius,  which  he  endeavors  to  explain  thus:  "  Ac  sicwi 
t-ifae.Ui parehs,  inter  parentes,  sese  habere  aolet,  tit  nuilos  amphus  liberas  pro- 
iorat,  sic  Roma  sese  habuit,  ubi  multis  tempestatibus  nemo  virtute  inagnus 
fr.it."  "  Est,"  he  adds,  "or  solet  esse,  or  sese  habere  solet,  7imy  very  well  bo 
understood  from  thefuti  which  follows."  But  all  this  only  serves  to  show 
what  a  critic  may  imd  to  say  in.  defense  of  a  reading  to  which  he  is  deter- 
mined to  adhere.  All  the  MSS.,  indeed,  hnveparentum.  except  one,  which 
has  parente.  Dietsch  thinks  that  some  word  has  been  lost  between  fffaeta 
und  parent-urn,  and  proposes  to  read  sicuti  effoeta  aUtte  parentum,  with  the 
sense,  as  tfthe  age  of  the  parents  were  too  much  e.rhutisttd  to  produce  slroixj 
children.  Kritzi'us,  from  a  suggestion  of  Cortius  (or  rather  of  his  predeces- 
sor, Rupertus),  reads  (ficetce  parent-urn  (the  effoetae  agreeing  with  Jiomcu 
which  follows),  considering  the  sense  to  be  the  same  as  ejfcetcK purcnlis — as 
dimna.  dtarum  for  dtvina  Sea,  etc.  Gerlach  retains  the  reading  of  Cortius, 
and  adopts  his  explanation  (4to.  ed.,  1827),  but  says  that  the  e.cpUcatio  may 
seem  durior,  and  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  we  ought  not  to  have  recourse 
to  the  efffita  parente  of  the  old  critics.  Assuredly  if  we  retain  pateitttim. 


anything.'  .        _  . 

locus  intellectus  nemini,  and  at  last  decided  on  understanding  mrttite  with 
(ffaetiK  parent  urn,  which,  pace  ianti  »>n,  and  although  Allen  lias  followed 
liim,  is  little  better  than  folly.  The  concurrence  of  the  majority  of  manu- 
scripts in  giving  parentum  "makes  the  sclmlar  unwilling  to  set  it  aside. 
However,  as  no  one  has  explained  it  satisfactorily  even  to  himself,  I  have 
thought  it  better,  with  Dietsch,  to  regard  it  a  scriptura  iwnftrtnda,  and  to 
acquiesce,  with  Glareanus,  Rivius,  Burnouf,  and  the  Bipout  edition,  in  tho 
reading  ejfat A  parente. 


66  SALLUST. 

pu  tat  ion,  though  attained  by  different  means/3  Caesar  grew 
eminent  by  genesroity  and  munificence;  Cato  by  the  integrity 
of  his  life.  Caesar  was  esteemed  for  his  humanity  and  benevo- 
lence ;  austereness  had  given  dignity  to  Cato.  Caesar  acquire:] 
renown  by  giving,  relieving,  and  pardoning;  Cato  by  bestov,'- 
ing  nothing.  In  Ccesar,  there  was  a  refuge  for  (he  unfortunate; 
in  Cato,  destruction  for  the  bad.  In  Ca3sar,  his  easiness  ofter.:- 
per  was  admired;  in  Cato,  his  firmness.  Caesar,  in  fine,  ha:l 
applied  himself  to  a  life  of  energy  and  activity  ;  intent  upon  the 
interest  of  his  friends,  he  was  neglectful  of  his  owu  ;  he  refused 
nothing  to  others  that  was  worthy  of  acceptance,  while  for  him- 
self he  desired  great  power,  the  command  of  an  army,  and  a 
new  war  in  which  his  talents  might  be  displayed.  But  C:ito1:; 
ambition  was  that  of  temperance,  discretion,  and,  above  all,  of 
austerity ;  he  did  n»t  contend  ii\  splendor  with  the  rich,  or  in 
faction  witli  the  seditious,  but  with  the  brave  in  fortitude,  with 
the  modest  in  simplicity,74  with  the  temperate75  in  abstinence; 
he  was  more  desirous  to  be,  than  to  appear,  virtuous ;  and 
thus,  the  less  he  courted  popularity,  the  more  it  pursued  him. 

LV.  When  the  senate,  as  I  have  stated,  had  gone  over  to 
the  opinion  of  Cato,  the  counsel,  thinking  it  best  not  to  wait  till 
night,  which  was  coming  on,  lest  any  new  attempts  should  be 
made  during  the  interval,  ordered  the  triumvirs70  to  make  such 
preparations  as  the  execution  of  the  conspirators  required.  Ho 
himself,  having  posted  the  necessary  guards,  conducted  Lentu- 
lus  to  the  prison ;  and  the  same  office  was  performed  for  the 
rest  by  the  pnetors. 

There  is  a  place  in  the  prison,  which  is  called  the  Tulliaa 
dungeon,77  and  which,  after  a  slight  ascent  to  the  left,  is  sunk 

"3  LIV.  Though  attained  by  different  mean*]  Sed  alia  alii.  "Alii  alia 
gloria"  for  altera  alteri.  So  l^ivy,  i.  21 :  Duo  reges,  alius  alia  via. 

71  Simplicity]  Pudore.  The  word  here  seems  to  mean  the  absence  of  dis- 
play and  ostentation. 

i5  With  the  temperate]  Cum  innocente.  "  That  is  cum  inttgro  ei  abstinent*. 
For  innocentia  is  used  for  al>gt,inentia,  and  opposed  to  avaritia.  See  Cic.  pro 
Legc  Maml.,  c.  13."  Jiurnovf, 

'•o  LV.  The  triumvirs]  Triumviros.  The  triumviri  capitales.  who  had  the 
charge  of  the  prison  and.  of  the  punishment  of  the  condemned.  They  per- 
lormed  their  office  by  deputy,  Val.  Max.,  v.  4,  7. 

77  The  Tullian  dungeon]  Tullianum.  "  Tulliannm"  is  an  adjective,  with 
which  robnr  must  be  understoood,  as  it  was  originally  constructed,  wholly 
or  partially,  with  oak.  See  Festus,  sub  voce  R«bum  or  Robur:  his  words 
are  arcw  robustis  includebatur,  of  which  the  sense  is  not  very  clear.  The 
rr.son  at  Kome  was  built  by  Ancus  Marcius,  and  enlarged  by  Serviu?  Tul- 
l>ub  from  whom  this  part  of  it  had  its  name  ;  Varro  de  L.  L.,  iv.  33.  It  is 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  07 

nl>out  twelve  feet  under  ground.  Walls  secure  it  ou  every  side, 
and  over  it  is  a  vaulted  roof  connected  with  stone  arches  ;?"  but 
its  appearance  is  disgusting  and  horrible,  by  reason  of  the  fikh, 
d.irkness,  and  stench.  When  Lentulus  had  been  let  down  into 
(his  place,  certain  men,  to  whom  orders  had  been  given,'*  stran- 
gled him  with  a  cord.  Thus  this  patrician,  who  was  of  the  illus- 
trious family  of  the  Cornehi,  and  who  filled  the  office  of  consul 
r_t  Rome,  met  with  an  end  suited  to  his  character  and  conduct. 
On  Cethegus,  Statilius,  Gabiuius,  and  Coeparius,  punishment 
Y.T.S  inflicted  in  a  similar  manner. 

LVI.  During  these  proceedings  at  Rome,  Catiline,  out  of  the 
entire  force  which  he  himself  had  brought  with  him,  and  that 
Avhich  Manlius  had  previously  collected,  formed  two  legions, 
filling  up  the  cohorts  as  far  as  his  number  would  allow  ;8U  and 
afterward,  as  any  volunteers,  or  recruits  from  his  confederates,"1 
arrived  in  his  camp,  he  distributed  them  equally  throughout  the 
cohorts,  and  thus  filled  up  his  legions,  in  a  short  time,  with  their 
regular  number  of  men,  though  at  first  he  had  not  more  than 
two  thousand.  But,  of  his  whole  army,  only  about  a  fourth 

now  transformed  into  a  subterranean  chapel,  beneath  a  small  church  erected 
over  it,  called  San  Pietro  in  Carcere.  De  Brosses  and  Eustace  both  visited 
it ;  See  Eustace's  Classical  Tour,  vol.  i.  p.  260,  iii  the  Family  Library.  See 
:.lso  Wasse's  note  on  this  passage. 

78  A  vaulted  roof  connected  with  stone  arches]  Camera  lapideis  fomicibus 
vincta.     "  That  camera  was  a  roof  curved  in  the  form  of  a  testudo,  is  gener- 
ally admitted ;  see  Vitruv.  vii.  3 ;  Varr.,  R.  K.  iii.  7,  init."     Dietsch.    Tho 
roof  is  now  arched  in  the  usual  wav. 

79  Certain  men,  to  whom  orders  had  been  given]  Quibns praceptum  erat. 
The  editions  of  Havercamp,  Gerlach,  Kritzius,  and  Dietsch,  have  vindieesre- 
riim  capitalism,  miihus,  etc.    Cortius  ejected  the  first  three  words  from  his 
text,  as  an  intruded  gloss.    If  the  words  be  genuine,  we  must  consider  these 
mnaices  to  have  been  the  deputies,  or  lictors,  of  the  "triumvirs"  mentioned 
above. 

so  LVI.  As  far  as  his  numbers  would  allow]  Pro_  nvmero  militvm.  Ho 
formed  his  men  into  two  bodies,  which  he  called  legions,  and  divided  each 
legion,  as  was  usual,  into  ten  cohorts,  putting  into  each  cohort  as  many  men 
as  he  could.  The  cohort  of  a  full  legion  consisted  of  three  maniples,  or  six 
hundred  men ;  the  legion  would  then  be  six  thousand  men.  But  the  le- 
gions were  seldom  so  large  as  this  ;  they  varied  at  different  periods,  from 
MX  thousand  to  three  thousand ;  in  the  time  of  Polybius  they  were  usually 
four  thousand  two  hundred.  See  Adam's  Rom.  Ant.,  and  Lipsius  de  Mil. 
Rom  Dial.  iv. 

"'  From  his  confederates]  Re  sociis.  "  Understand,  not  only  the  leaders 
in  the  conspiracy,  but  those  who,  in  c.  35,  are  said  to  have  set  out  to  join 
Catiline,  though 'not  at  that  time  exactly  implicated  in  the  plot."  Kritziu*. 
It  is  necessary  to  notice  this,  because  Cortius  erroneously  supposes  "pociis" 
to  mean  the  allies  of  Home.  Dahl,  Longius,  Muller,  Bumout,  Gerlacli,  and 
Dietsch,  all  interpret  in  the  same  manner  as  Kritzius. 


68  SALLUST. 

part  had  the  proper  weapons  of  soldiers;  the  rest,  as 

had  equipped  them,  carried  darts,  spears,  or  sharpened  stakes. 

As  Antonius  approached  with  his  army,  Catiline  directed  his 
march  over  the  hills,  encamping,  at  one  time,  in  the  direction 
of  Rome,  at  another  in  that  ot'  Gaul.  He  gave  the  enemy  no 
opportunity  of  fighting,  yet  hoped  himself  shortly  to  find  one,"2 
if  his  accomplices  at  Rome  should  succeed  in  their  objects. 
flares,  meanwhile,  of  whom  vast  numbers'"3  had  at  first  flocked 
to  him,  he  continued  to  reject,  not  only  as  depending  on  the 
strength  of  the  conspiracy,  but  as  thinking  it  impolitic54  to  ap- 
pear to  share  the  cause  of  citizens  with  runagates. 

LVII.  When  it  was  reported  in  his  camp,  however,  that  the 
conspiracy  had  been  discovered  at  Rome,  and  that  Lentulus, 
Cethegus,  and  the  rest  whom  I  have  named,  had  been  put  to 
death,  most  of  those  whom  the  hope  of  plunder,  or  the  love  of 
change,  had  led  to  join  in  the  war,  fell  away.  The  remain- 
der Catiline  conducted,  over  rugged  mountains,  and  by  forced 
marches,  into  the  neighborhood  of  Pistoria,  with  a  view  to  es- 
cape covertly,  by  cross  roads,  into  Gaul. 

But  Quintus  Metellus  Celer,  with  a  force  of  three  legions,  had 
at  that  time,  his  station  in  Picenum,  who  suspected  that  Catiline, 
from  the  difficulties  of  his  position,  would  adopt  precisely  the 
course  which  we  have  just  described.  When,  therefore,  he  had 
learned  his  route  from  some  deserters,  he  immediately  broke  up 
his  camp,  and  took  his  post  at  the  very  foot  of  the  hills,  at  the 
point  where  Catiline's  descent  would  be,  in  his  hurried  march 
into  Gaul.fla  Nor  was  Antonius  far  distant,  as  he  was  pursuing, 

M  Hoped  himself  shortly  to  find  one]  Sperabat  propediem  sese  Jiabiturvm. 
Other  editions,  as  those  of  Havercanip,  Gerlach,  Kritzius,  Dietsch,  and 
Burnouf,  have  the  words  maynas  cttpiux  before  sese.  Cortius  struck  them 
out,  observing  that  copice  occurred  too  often  in  this  chapter,  and  that  in  one- 
MS.  they  were  wanting.  One  manuscript,  however,  was  insufficient  author- 
ity for  discarding  them ;  and  the  phrase  suits  much  better  with  what  fol- 
lows, si  ROTTKK  sitc'd  incepta  patrauisscnt,  if  they  arc  retained. 

83  Slaves — of  whom  vast  numbers,  etc.]  Servit'ui — cujits — magncR  copice. 
"Cujits"  says  Priscian  (xvii.  20,  vol.  ii.,  p.  81,  cd.  Krehl),  "is  referred  ad 
•  rem,  that  is  cujus  rel  servilvtrum.'1''  Seroorvan  or  hmninum  genus,  is,  pcrliaps, 
rather  what  Sallust  had  in  his  mind,  as  the  subject  of  his  relation.  Gerlach 
adduces  as  an  expression  most  nearly  approaching  to  Sallust1*,  Thncyd.,  iii. 
02;  Kat  Aup<fjf,  TI  uTjTpoiro/.if  TUV  kane&upovtw. 

**  Impolitic]  Alienumsuie  rationibun.  Foreign  to  his  views  ;  inconsistent 
with  his  policy. 

w  LVII.  In  his  hurried  march  into  Gaul]  In  Gattiam properanti.  These 
words  Cortius  inclosed  in  brackets,  pronouncing  them,  as  a  useless  gloss. 
.But  all  editors  have  retained  them  as  genuine,  except  the  Bipout  and  Bur- 
uouf,  who  wholly  omitted  them. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE,  69 

though  with  a  large  army,  yet  through  plainer  ground,  and  with 
fewer  hinderances,  the  enemy  in  retreat."* 

Catilinf,  when  he  saw  that  he  was  surrounded  by  mountains 
and  by  hostile  forces,  that  his  schemes  in  the  city  had  been  un- 
successful, and  that  there  was  no  hope  either  of  escape  or  of 
succor,  thinking  it  best,  in  such  circumstances,  to  try  the  for- 
tune of  a  battle,  resolved  upon  engaging,  as  speedily  as  possible, 
with  Antonius.  Having,  therefore,  assembled  his  troops,  he  ad- 
dressed them  in  the  following  manner : 

LVIII.  "  I  am  well  aware,  soldiers,  that  words  can  i?ot  in- 
spire courage ;  and  that  a  spiritless  army  can  not  be  rendered 
active,87  or  a  timid  army  valiant,  by  the  speech  of  its  com- 
mander. Whatever  courage  is  in  the  heart  of  a  man,  whether 
from  nature  or  from  hal  >it,  so  much  will  be  shown  by  him  in 
the  field ;  and  on  him  whom  neither  glory  nor  danger  can  move, 
exhortation  i.;  bestowed  in  vain ;  for  the  terror  in  his  breast 
stops  his  ears. 

"I  have  called  you  together,  however,  to  give  you  a  few  in- 
structions, and  to  explain  to  you,  at  the  same  time,  my  reasons 
for  the  course  which  I  have  adopted.  You  all  know,  soldiers, 
how  severe  a  penalty  the  inactivity  and  cowardice  of  Lentulus 
has  brought  upon  himself  and  us ;  and  how,  while  waiting  for 
reinforcements  from  the  city,  I  was  unable  to  march  into  Gaul. 

«•  As  he  was  pursuing,  though  with  a  large  army,  yet  through  plainer 
ground,  and  with  fewer  hinderanceSj  the  enemy  in  retreat]  Utpote  qui  mcyno 
exercitu,  locis  cequioribu-s,  expedites,  infuga  sequeretur.  It  would  be  tedious 
to  notice  all  that  1ms  been  written  upon  this  passage  of  Sallust.  All  the  edi- 
tions, before  that  of  Cortius,  had  expedites,  infugam,  some  joining  expedites 
with  locis  atffviorSnu,  and  some  with  infugam.  Expedites  infugam  was  first 
condemned  by  Wasse,  no  negligent  observer  of  phrases,  who  said  that  no 
expression  parallel  to  it  could  be  found  in  any  Latin  writer.  Cortius,  seeing 
that  the  expedition,  of  which  Sallust  is  speaking,  is  on  the  part  of  Antonius, 
not  of  Catiline,  altered  expedites,  though  found  in  all  the  manuscripts,  into 
expedites ;  and  infugam,  at  the  same  time,  into  infuqa,;  and  in  both  these 
emendations  he  has  been  cordially  followed  by  the  subsequent  editors,  Gcr- 
laeh,  Kritzius,  and  Dietseh.  I  have  translated  magno  exercitu,  "though  with 
a  larsre  army,"  although,  according  to  Dietseh  and  some  others,  we  need  not 
consider  a  large  army  as  a  cause  of  slowness,  but  may  rather  regard  it  as  a 
cause  of  speed ;  since  the  more  numerous  were  Metcllus's  forces,  the  less 
he  would  care  how  many  he  might  leave  behind  through  fatigue,  or  to  guard 
the  baggage ;  so  that  he  might  be  the  more  e.rpeditus,  unincumbered.  "With 
ff<jneretur  we  must  understand  Tiogtm,  The  Bipont,  Bnrnouf  s,  which  ofren 
follows  it,  and  Haven-amp's,  are  now  the  only  editions  of  any  note  that  rc- 
Liin  expedites  infugam. 

OT  LV1IT.  That  a  spiritless  army- can  not  ba  rendered  active,  etc.!  I 
ex  igtvi co siren n n m.  n <  / <"•  f "/•'<• /ii  <  f  f ///,  ,'./< >  txi  re  't<m\  oratione  imptratariljtsri. 
1  have  departed  a  liuie  from  the  literal  muling,  for  the  sake  of  coao. 


70  SALLUST. 

In  what  situation  our  affairs  now  are,  you  all  understand  as  well 
as  myself.  Two  armies  of  the  enemy,  one  on  the  side  of  Rome, 
and  the  other  on  that  of  Gaul,  oppose  our  progress ;  while  the 
Avant  of  corn,  and  of  other  necessaries,  prevents  us  from  remain- 
ing, however  strongly  we  may  desire  to  remain,  in  our  present 
position.  Whithersoever  we  would  go,  we  •  must  open  a  pas- 
sage with  our  swords.  I  conjure  you,  therefore,  to  maintain  a 
brave  and  resolute  spirit ;  and  to  remember,  when  you  advance 
to  battle,  that  on  your  own  right  hands  depend88  riches,  honor, 
and  glory,  with  the  enjoyment  of  your  liberty  and  of  your 
country.  If  we  conquer,  all  will  be  safe  ;  we  shall  have  provis- 
ions in  abundance ;  and  the  colonies  and  corporate  towns  will 
open  their  gates  to  us.  But  if  we  lose  the  victory  through 
want  of  courage,  those  same  places89  will  turn  against  us  ;  for 
neither  place  nor  friend  will  protect  him  whom  his  arms  have 
not  protected.  Besides,  soldiers,  the  same  exigency  does  not 
press  upon  our  adversaries,  as  presses  upon  us  ;  we  fight  for  our 
country,  for  our  liberty,  for  our  life ;  they  contend  for  what  but 
little  concerns  them,00  the  power  of  a  small  party.  Attack  them, 
therefore,  Avith  so  much  the  greater  confidence,  and  call  to  mind 
your  achievements  of  old. 

"We  mighty"  Avith  the  utmost  ignominy,  have  passed  the 
rest  of  our  days  in  exile.  Some  of  you,  after  losing  your  prop- 
erty, might  have  Avaited  at  Rome  for  assistance  from  others. 
But  because  such  a  life,  to  men  of  spirit,  Avas  disgusting  and  un- 
endurable, you  resolved  upon  your  present  course.  If  you  Avish 
to  quit  it,  you  must  exert  all  your  resolution,  for  none  but  con- 
querors have  exchanged  war  for  pence.  To  hope  for  safety  in 
flight,  when  you  have  turned  away  from  the  enemy  the  arms  by 
which  the  body  is  defended,  is  indeed  madness.  In  battle,  those 
who  are  most  afraid  are  always  in  most  danger ;  but  courage  is 
equivalent  to  a  rampart. 

"When  I  contemplate  you,  soldiers,  and  Avhen  I  consider 
your  past  exploits,  a  strong  hope  of  victory  animates  me.  Your 

88  That  on  your  own  right  hands  depend,  etc.]  In  dextris portare.   "  That 
you  carry  in  your  right  hands." 

89  Those  same  places]  Eadtm  ilia.     "Colonise   ntque  mnnidpia  portas 
claudeut."     jBurncnif. 

90  They  contend  tor  what  but  little  concerns  them]  Tills  svpervai'an-eum  e.xi 
pugnare.     It  is  but  of  little  concern  to  the  great  body  of  them  personally: 
they  may  fight,  but  others  will  have  the  advantages  of  their  efforts. 

vl  We  might,  etc.]  Licuit  nolis.  The  editions  vary  between  noils  and 
vobis  ;  but  most,  with  Cortius,  have  nobi*. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  71 

spirit,  your  age,  your  valor,  give  me  confidence  ;  to  say  nothing 
of  necessity,  which  makes  even  cowards  brave.  To  prevent 
the  numbers  of  the  enemy  from  surrounding  us,  our  con- 
fined situation  is  sufficient.  But  should  Fortune  be  unjust 
to  your  valor,  take  care  not  to  lose  your  lives  unavenged  ;  take 
care  not  to  be  taken  and  butchered  like  cattle,  rather  than, 
fighting  like  men,  to  leave  to  your  enemies  a  bloody  and  mourn- 
ful victory." 

LIX.  When  lie  had.  thus  spoken,  he  ordered,  after  a  short 
delay,  the  signal  for  battle  to  be  sounded,  and  led  down  his 
troops,  in  regular  order,  to  the  level  ground.  Having  then 
sent  away  the  horses  of  all  the  cavalry,  in  order  to  increase  the 
men's  courage  by  making  their  danger  equal,  he  himself,  on 
foot,  drew  up  his  troops  suitably  to  their  numbers  and  the  nr.- 
ture  of  the  ground.  As  a  plain  stretched  between  the  moun- 
tains on  the  left,  with  a  rugged  rock  on  the  right,  he  placed 
eight  cohorts  in  front,  and  stationed  the  rest  of  his  force,  in 
close  order,  in  the  rear.02  From  among  these  he  removed  all 
the  ablest  centurions,93  the  veterans,94  and  the  stoutest  of  the 

w  LIX.  In  the  rear]  In  subsidio.  Most  translators  have  rendered  this, 
"  as  a  body  of  reserve ,  bat  such  can  not  well  be  the  signification.  It  seems 
only  to  mean  the  part  behind  the  front :  Catiline  places  the  eight  cohorts  in 
front,  and  the  rest  of  his  force  in  subsidio,  to  support  the  front.  Sulsidia, 
according  to  Varro  (de  L.  L.,  iv.  16)  and  Festus  (v.  Subsidivm),  was  a  term 
applied  to  the  Triarii,  because  they  subsidebant,  or  sunk  down  on  one  knee? 
iintil  it  was  their  turn  to  act.  See  Shelter's  Lex.  v.  Sulsidium.  "  NovisMini 
ordines  its  dicuntur."  Gerlach.  In  subsidiis,  which  occurs  a  few  lines  be- 
low, seems  to  signify  in  lines  in  the  rear  ;  as  in  Jug.  49,  triplicibus  enlsidiis 
uciem  intruxit,  i.  e.  with  three  lines  behind  the  front*  "Subsidium  ea  pars 
aciei  vocabatur  quoe  reliquis  snbmitti  posset ;  Caes.  B.  G.,  ii.  25."  2>ietsch. 

83  All  the  ablest  centurions]  Centarionea  omnes  lectos.  "  Lectos  you  may 
consider  to  be  the  same  as  extBttoe,  prastantet,  centurionum  praestantissimuin 
quemque."  Kritzim.  Cortius  and  others  take  it  for  a  participle,  chosen. 

94  \  eterans]  Ewcatos.  Some  would  make  this  also  a  participle,  because, 
ray  they,  it  can  not  signify  evocati,  or  called-out  veterans,  since,  though  there 
were  such  soldiers  in  a  regular  Roman  army,  there  could  be  none  so  called 
in  the  tumultuary  forces  of  Catiline.  But  to  "this  it  is  answered  that  Catiline 
had  imitated  the  regular  disposition  of  a  Roman  army,  and  that  his  veterans 
might  consequently  be  called  evocati,  just  as  if  they  had  been  in  one ;  and, 
i  also  that  evocatus  as  a  participle  would  be  useless ;  for  if  Catiline  removed 
(snbdvcU)  the  centurions,  it  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  he  called  them  out. 


lougo  uso  militise  peritissimi.  Dio.,  xlv.  p. 
TZJV  dvfipwv  Kal  TO  TUV  'HOVOKUTUV  TJ  'OvoKuTuv  ffj'xTD^urt  (ovf  ' 
<lv  -if  'EJlAwViffCtf,  OTI  TTeTravpfvoi  Trjf  OTpaTEiaf,  &TT'  avT?,v  dv 
(>/taav,  ovofiuaeiei')  IvofiioBrj.  Intelligit  itaque  ejusmodi  homines  veterano*, 
clsi  non  proprid  crant  tales  evocati,  sed  sponte  castra  Catilinaj  essent  scout;."' 
€•  riius. 


72  SALLUST. 

common  soldiers  that  were  regularly  armed,  into  the  foremost 
ranks.04  He  ordered  Gains  Maulins  to  take  the  command  on 
the  right,  and  a  certain  officer  of  FaesulaB00  on  the  left ;  while  he 
himself,  with  his  freedmen07  and  the  colonists,"  took  his  station 
by  the  eagle,"9  which  Caius  Marius  was  said  to  have  had  in  his 
army  in  the  Cimbrian  war. 

On  the  other  side,  Caius  Antonius,  who,  being  lame,'  was 
unable  to  be  present  in  the  engagement,  gave  the  command  of 
the  army  to  Marcus  Petreius,  his  lieutenant-general.  Petreius, 
ranged  the  cohorts  of  veterans,  which  he  had  raised  to  meet  the 
present  insurrection,"  in  front,  and  behind  them  the  rest  of  his 
force  in  lines.  Then,  riding  round  among  his  troops,  and  ad- 
dressing his  men  by  name,  he  encouraged  them,  and  bade  them 
remember  that  they  were  to  fight  against  unarmed  marauders, 
in  defense  of  their  country,  their  children,  their  temples,  and 
their  homes.3  ]3eing  a  military  man,  aad  having  served  with 
great  reputation,  for  more  than  thirty  years,  as  tribune,  prsefect, 
lieutenant,  or  prastor,  he  knew  most  of  the  soldiers  and'  their 

65  Into  the  foremost  ranks]  Inprimam  aciem.  Whether  Sallust  means 
that  he  ranged  them  with  the  eight  cohorts,  or  only  in  the  first  line  of  the 
subsidia,  is  not  clear. 

B8  A  certain  officer  of  Fsesulae]  Ftesulanum  quondam.  "lie  is  thought  to 
have  been  that  P.  Furius,  whom  Cicero  (Oat.,  iii.  6.  14)  mentions  as  having 
been  one  of  the  colonists  that  Sylla  settled  at  Foosulse,  and  who  was  to  have 
been  executed,  if  he  had  been  apprehended,  for  having  been  concerned  in 
corrupting  the  Allobrogian  deputies."  Dietsch.  Plutarch  calls  this  officer 
Furius. 

1)7  His  freedmen]  Liberti*.  "  His  own  freedmen,  whom  he  probably  had 
about  him  as  a  body-guard,  deeming  them  the  most  attached  of  his  aclher- 
ents.  Among  them  was,  possibly,  that  Sergius,  whom  we  find  from  Cic.  pro 
Domo,  5,  6,  to  have  been  Catiline's  armor -bearer."  Dietsch. 

8B  The  colonists]  Colonis.  "  Veterans  of  Sylla,  who  had  been  settled  by 
him  as  colonists  in  Etruria,  and  who  had  now  been  induced  to  join  Catiline.'' 
Gerlach.  See  c.  25. 

OT  By  the  eagle]  Propter  aquilim.    Sec  Cic.  in  Cat.,  i.  9. 

*  Being  lame]  Pedlous  <tyer.  It  has  been  common  among  translators  to 
render  pedlhita  eager  afflicted  with  the  gout,  though  a  Koman  might  surely 
be  lame  without  having  the  gout.  As  the  lameness  of  Antonius,  however, 
according  to  Dion  Caasius  (xxxvii.  39),  was  only  pretended,  it  may  be 
thought  more  probable  that  he  counterfeited  the  gout  than  any  other  malady. 
h  was  witli  thin  belief,  I  suppose,  that  the  writer  of  a  gloss  on  one  of  the 
manuscripts  consulted  bv  Cortius,  interpreted  the  words,  idtroneam  pass  us 
est  pndoqiam,  "  he  was  affected  with  a  Voluntary  gout."  Dion  Cassius  says 
that  he  preferred  engaging  with  Antonius,  who  hud  the  larger  army,  rather 
than  with  Metcllus,  who  had  the  smaller,  because  ho  hoped  that  Antoiiius 
would  designedly  act  in  such  a  way  as  to  lose  the  victory. 

2  To  meet  the  present  insurrection]  Tumulti  causa.  Any  sudden  war  or 
insurrection  in  Italy  or  Gaul  was  called  tumuUus.  See  Cic.  Philipp.  v.  12. 

8  Their  temples  and  their  homes]  Aris  atquefocis  suis.    Sec  c.  52. 


CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.  73 

honorable  actions,  and,  by  calling  those  to  their  remembrance, 
roused  the  spirits  of  the  men. 

LX.  When  he  had  made  a  complete  survey,  he  gave  the 
signal  with  the  trumpet,  and  ordered  the  cohorts  to  advance 
slowly.  The  army  of  the  enemy  followed  his  example ;  and 
when  they  approached  so  near  that  the  action  could  be  com- 
menced by  the  light-armed  troops,  both  sides,  with  a  loud 
shout,  rushed  together  in  a  furious  charge.4  .They  threw 
aside  their  missiles,  aud  fought  only  with  their  swords.  The 
veterans,  calling  to  mind  their  deeds  of  old,  engaged  fiercely 
in  the  closest  combat.  The  enemy  made  an  obstinate  re- 
sistance ;  and  both  sides  contended  with  the  utmost  fury. 
Catiline,  during  this  time,  was  exerting  himself  with  his  light 
troops  in  the  front,  sustaining  such  as  were  pressed,  sub- 
stituting fresh  men  for  the  wounded,  attending  to  every 
exigency,  charging  in  person,  wounding  many  an  enemy, 
and  performing  at  once  the  duties  of  a  valiant  soldier  and  a 
skillful  general. 

When  Petreius,  contrary  to  his  expectation,  found  Catiline 
attacking  him  with  such  impetuosity,  he  led  his  praetorian 
cohort  against  the  centre  of  the  enemy,  among  whom, 
being  thus  thrown  into  coufusion,  and  offering  but  partial  re- 
sistance,6 he  made  great  slaughter,  and  ordered,  at  the  same 
time,  an  assault  on  both  flanks.  Manlius  and  the  Fsesulan, 
«word  in  hand,  were  among  the  first*  that  fell ;  and  Catiline, 
when  he  saw  his  army  routed,  and  himself  left  with  but  few 
supporters,  remembering  his  birth  and  former  dignity,  rushed 
into  the  thickest  of  the  enemy,  where  he  was  slain,  fighting 
to  the  last. 

LXI.  When  the  battle  was  over,  it  was  plainly  seen  what 
boldness,  and  what  energy  of  spirit,  had  prevailed  throughout 
the  army  of  Catiline ;  for,  almost  every  where,  every  soldier, 
after  yielding  up  his  breath,  covered  with  his  corpse  the  spot 
which  he  had  occupied  when  alive.  A  few,  indeed,  whom 
the  praetorian  cohort  had  dispersed,  had  fallen  somewhat 
differently,  but  all  with  wounds  in  front.  Catiline  himself 
was  found,  far  in  advance  of  his  men,  among  the  dead  bodies 

<  LX.  In  a  furious  clianje ]  Infesti*  signls. 

'•>  Ottering  but  partial  resistance]  Aiwa  alibi  rexistentes.  Not  making  a 
stand  in  a  body,  but  only  some  in  one  place,  and  some  in  another. 

•  Among  the  first,  etc.]  In  primls  puynantet  cadunt.  Cortius  very  prop, 
erly  refers  inprimle  to  cadunt. 


74  SALLUST. 

of  the  enemy ;  he  was  not  quite  breathless,  and  still  expressed 
in  his  countenance  the  fierceness  of  spirit  which  he  had  shown 
during  his  life.  Of  his  whole  army,  neither  in  the  battle, 
nor  in  flight,  was  any  free-born  citizen  made  prisoner,  for 
they  had  spared  their  own  lives  no  more  than  those  of  the 
enemy. 

Nor  did  the  army  of  the  Roman  people  obtain  a  joyful  or 
bloodless  victory  ;  for  all  their  bravest  men  were  either  killed 
in  the  battle,  or  left  the  field  severely  wounded. 

Of  many  who  went  from  the  camp  to  view  the  ground,  or 
plunder  the  slain,  some,  in  turning  over  the  bodies  of  the 
enemy,  discovered  a  friend,  others  an  acquaintance,  others  a 
relative  ;  some,  too,  recognized  their  enemies.  Thus,  gladness 
and  sorrow,  grief  and  joy,  were  variously  felt  throughout  tho 
whole  army. 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE. 


EXTRACTED    FROM    DE   BROSSES. 

A.n.c. 

685.  Coss.  L.  C^ECILIUS  METELLUS,  Q.  MARCIUS  REX. — 
Catiline  is  Praetor. 

686. — C.  CALPURNIUS  Piso,  M.  ACILIUS  GLABRIO. — Catiline 
Governor  of  Africa. 

687. — L.  VOLCATIUS  TULLUS,  M.  ^EMILIUS  LEPIDUS. — Deputies 
from  Africa  accuse  Catiline  of  extortion,  through  the 
agency  of  Clodius.  He  is  obliged  to  desist  from  standing 
for  the  consulship,  and  forms  the  project  of  the  first  con- 
spiracy. See  Sail.  Cat,  c.  18. 

688. — L.  MANLIUS  TORQUATUS,  L.  AURELIUS  COTTA. — Jan.  1 : 
Catiline's  project  of  the  first  conspiracy  becomes  known, 
and  he  defers  the  execution  of  it  to  the  6th  of  February, 
when  lie  makes  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  execute  it. 
July  17  :  He  is  acquitted  of  extortion,  and  begins  to  can- 
vass for  the  consulship  for  the  year  690. 

689. — L.  JULIUS  CAESAR,  C.  MARCIUS  FIGULUS  THERMUS. — 
Jane  1  :  Catiline  convokes  the  chiefs  of  the  second  con- 
spiracy. He  is  disappointed  in  his  views  on  the  consul- 
ship. 

690 — M.  TULLIUS  CICERO,  C.  ANTONIUS  HVBRIDA. —  Oct.  19  : 
Cicero  lays  the  affair  of  the  conspiracy  before  the  senate, 
who  decree  plenary  powers  to  the  consuls  for  defending 
the  state.  Oct.  21  :  Silanus  and  Murasna  are  elected  con- 
suls for  the  next  year,  Catiline,  who  was  a  candidate, 
being  rejected.  Oct.  22  :  Catiline  is  accused  under  the 
Plautian  Law  de  vi.  Sail.  Cat.,  c.  31.  Oct.  24  :  Manlius 
takes  up  arms  in  Etruria.  Nov.  6  :  Catiline  assembles 


76  SALLUST. 

A.tJ.C. 

the  chief  conspirators,  by  the  agency  of  Porcius  Laeca, 
Sail.  Cat,  c.  27.  Nov.  7  :  Vargunteius  and  Cornelius  un- 
dertake to  assassinate  Cicero.  Sail.  Cat.,  c.  28.  Nov.  8  : 
Catiline  appears  in  the  senate ;  Cicero  delivers  his  first 
Oration  against  him ;  he  threatens  to  extinguish  the 
flame  raised  around  him  in  a  general  destruction,  and 
quits  Rome.  Sail.  Cat.,  c.  31.  Nov.  9  :  Cicero  delivers 
his  second  Oration  against  Catiline,  before  an  assembly  of 
the  people,  convoked  by  order  of  the  senate.  Nov.  20,  or 
thereabouts :  Catiline  and  Manlius  are  declared  public 
enemies.  Soon  after  this  the  conspirators  attempt  to  se- 
cure the  support  of  the  Allobrogian  deputies.  Dec.  3  : 
About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  Allobroges  are  ap- 
prehended. Toward  evening  Cicero  delivers  his  third* 
Oration  against  Catiline,  before  the  people.  Dec.  5.  Cic- 
ero's fourth  Oration  against  Catiline,  before  the  senate. 
Soon  after,  the  conspirators  are  condemned  to  death,  and 
great  honors  are  decreed  by  the  senate  to  Cicero. 
691. — D.  JUNIUS  SILANUS,  L.  LICINIUS  MUR^ENA. — Jan.  5  : 
Battle  of  Pistoria,  and  death  of  Catiline. 


The  narrative  of  Sallust  terminates  with  the  account  of  the 
battle  of  Pistoria,  There  are  a  few  other  particulars  connected 
with  the  history  of  the  conspiracy,  which,  for  the  sake  of  the 
English  reader,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  add. 

When  the  victory  was  gained,  Antonius  caused  Catiline's 
head  to  be  cut  off,  and  sent  it  to  Rome  by  the  messengers 
who  carried  the  news.  Antonius  himself  was  honored,  by  a 
public  decree,  with  the  title  of  Imperator,  although  he  had 
done  little  to  merit  the  distinction,  and  although  the  number 
of  slain,  which  was  three  thousand,  was  less  than  that  for  which 
the  title  was  generally  given.  See  Dio  Cass.  xxxvii.,  40,  41. 

The  remains  of  Catiline's  army,  after  the  death  of  their 
leader,  continued  to  make  efforts  to  raise  another  insurrec- 
tion. In  August,  eight  months  after  the  battle,  a  party, 
under  the  command  of  Lucius  Sergius,  perhaps  a  relative  or 
freedman  of  Catiline,  still  offered  resistance  to  the  forces  of 
tho  government  in  Etruria.  Reliquice  conjuratorum,  cum  L. 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  CATILINE.      77 

Sergio,  tumultuantur  in  Hetruria.  Fragm.  Act.  Diurn.  The 
responsibility  of  watching  these  marauders  was  left  to  the 
proconsul  Metellus  Celer.  After  some  petty  encounters,  in 
which  the  insurgents  were  generally  worsted,  Sergius,  having 
collected  his  force  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  attempted  to  pene- 
trate into  the  country  of  the  Allobroges,  expecting  to  find 
them  ready  to  take  up  arms  ;  but  Metellus,  learning  nis  inten- 
tion, pre-occupied  the  passes,  and  then  surrounded  and  de- 
stroyed him  and  his  followers.  « 
At  Rome,  in  the  mean  time,  great  honors  were  paid  to 
Cicero.  A  thanksgiving  of  thirty  days  was  decreed  in  his 
name,  an  honor  which  had  previously  been  granted  to  none 
but  military  men,  and  which  was  granted  to  him,  to  use  his 
own  words,  because  he  had  delivered  the  city  from,  fire,  the  citi- 
zens from  slaughter,  and  Italy  from  war.  "  If  my  thanks- 
giving," he  also  observes,  "  be  compared  with  those  of  others, 
there  will  be  found  this  difference,  that  theirs  were  granted 
them  for  'having  managed  the  interests  of  the  republic  suc- 
cessfully, but  that  mine  was  decreed  to  me  for  having  pre- 
served the  republic  from  ruin."  See  Cic.  Orat.  iii.,  in  Cat., 
c.  6.  Pro  Sylla,  c.  30.  In  Pison.  c.  3.  Philipp.  xiv.,  8. 
Quihtus  Catuhas,  then  princeps  senatus,  and  Marcus  Cato 
styled  him,  several  times,  the  father  of  his  country. 

Roma  parentem, 
Roma  patrem  patrise  Cieeronem  libera  dixit. 

Juv.  Sat.,  viii.  244. 

Of  the  inferior  conspirators,  who  did  not  follow  Sergius,  and 
who  were  apprehended  at  Rome,  or  in  other  parts  of  Italy, 
after  the  death  of  the  leaders  in  the  plot,  some  were  put  to 
death,  chiefly  on  the  testimony  of  Lucius  Vettius,  one  of  their 
number,  who  turned  informer  against  the  rest.  But  many 
whom  he  accused  were  acquitted ;  others,  supposed  to  be 
guilty,  were  allowed  to  escape. 


THE  JTJGURTHINE  WAR, 


THE  ARGUMENT. 

THB  INTRODUCTION,  I.-IV.  The  aiithor's  declaration  of  his  design,  and  pre- 
fatory account  of  Jugurtha's  family,  V.  Jugurtha'a  character,  VI.  His 
talents  excite  apprehensions  in  his  uncle,  Micipsa,  VII.  He  is  sent  to 
Nnmantia.  His  merits,  his  favor  with  Scipio,  and  his  popularity  in  the 
army,  VIII.  He  receives  commendation  and  advice  from  Scipio,  and  is 
adopted  by  Micipsa,  wlio  resolves  that  Jugurtha,  A'lhcrbal,  and  Iliempsal, 
shall,  at  his  death;  divide  his  kingdom  equally  between  thorn,  IX.  He  is 
addressed  by  Micinsa  on  his  death-bed,  X.  His  proceedings,  and  those 
of  Adherbal  and  Iliempsal,  after  the  death  of  Micipsa,  XI.  He  murders 
Hiempsal,  XII.  He  defeats  Adherbal,  and  drives  him  tpr  refuge  to  Eome. 
He  dreads  the  vengeance  of  the  senate,  and  sends  cinbassadors  to  Eome, 
who  are  confronted  with  those  of  Adherbal  in  the  senate-house,  XIII. 
The  speech  of  Adherbal,  XIV.  The  reply  of  Jugurtha's  embasaadors, 
and  the  opinions  of  the  senators,  XV.  The  prevalence  of  Jugurtha's 
money,  and  the  partition  of  the  kingdom  between  him  and  Adherbul, 
XVI.  A  description  of  Africa,  XVII.  An  account  of  its  inhabitants, 
and  of  its  principal  divisions  at  the  commencement  of  the  Jugurthino 
war,  XVIII.,  XIX.  Jngurtha  invades  Adherbal's  part  of  the  kingdom, 
XX.  He  defeats  Adherbal,  and  besieges  him  in  Cirta,  XXI.  He  frus- 
trates the  intentions  of  the  Roman  deputies,  XXII.  Adherbal's  distresses, 
XXIII.  His  letter  to  the  senate,  XXIV.  Jugurtha  disappoints  a  second 
Roman  deputation,  XXV.  He  takes  Cirta,  and  puts  Aaberdal  to  death, 
XXVI.  The  senate  determine  to  make  war  upon  him,  and  commit  the 
management  of  it  to  Calpurnius,  XXVII.  He  sends  an  ineffectual  em- 
bassy to  the  senate.  His  dominions  are  vigorously  invaded  by  Calpurnins, 
XXVIII.  He  bribes  Calpurnius,  and  makes  a  treaty  with  him,  XXIX. 
His  proceedings  are  discussed  at  Rome,  XXX.  The  speech  of  Memmius 
concerning  them,  XXXI.  The  consequences  of  it,  XXXII.  The  arrival 
of  Jugurtha  at  Rome,  and  his  appearance  before  the  people,  XXXIII., 
XXXIV.  He  procures  the  assassination  of  Massivn,  and  is  ordered  to  quit 
Italy,  XXXV.  Albinus,  the  successor  of  Calpurnius,  renews  the  war. 
He  returns  to  Rome,  and  leaves  his  brother  Aulus  to  command  in  his  ab- 
sence, XXXVI.  Aulus  miscarries  in  the  sieire  of  Sutliul,  and  concludes 
a  dishonorable  treaty  with  Jugurtha,  XXXVII.,  XXXVIIT.  His  treaty 
5s  annulled  by  the  senate.  His  brother,  Albinus,  resumes  the  command, 
XXXIX.  The  people  decree  an  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  those  who 
had  treated  with  Jugurtha,  XL.  Consideration  on  the  popular  and  scna- 


THE  JUGTJRTTriNK  WAR.  70 

tori-.il  factions,  XLI.,  XLTI.  M etc! Ins  assumes  the  conduct  of  the  war, 
XLIII.  He  finds  the  army  in  Numidia  without  discipline,  XL1V.  Ho 
restores  subordination,  XLV.  He  rejects  Jugurtha's  offers  of  submission, 
bribes  his  deputies,  and  inarches  into  the  country,  XLVI.  He  places  a 
garrison  in  Vacca,  and  seduces  other  deputies  of  Jugurtha,  XLVII.  He 
engages  with  Jugurtha,  and  defeats  him.  His  lieutenant,  Rutilius,  puts 
to  flight  Bomilcar,  the  general  of  Jugurtha,  XLVlIi.-LIII.  He  is  threat- 
ened with  new  opposition.  He  lays  waste  the  country.  His  stragglers 
are  cut  off  by  Jugurtha,  LIV.  His  merits  are  celebrated  at  Home.  Hia 
caution.  His  progress  retarded,  LV.  He  commences  the  siege  of  Zama, 
which  is  reinforced  by  Jugurtha.  His  lieutenant,  Marius,  repulses 
Jugurtha  at  Sicca,  LVI.  He  is  joined  by  Marias,  and  prosecutes  the  siege. 
Ilis  camp  is  surprised,  LV1L,  LV1II.  His  struggles  with  Jugurtha,  and 
his  operations  before  the  town,  LIX..LX.  He  raises  the  siege,  and  goes 
into  winter  quarters.  He  attaches  Bomilcar  to  his  interest,  LXI.  He 
makes  a  treaty  with  Jugurtha,  who  breaks  it,  LXII.  The  ambition  of 
Murius.  His  character.  His  desire  of  the  consulship,  LXIII.  His  ani- 
mosity toward  Metcllus.  His  intrigues  to  supplant  him,  LXIV,  LXV. 
The-  Vaccians  surprise  the  Eoman  garrison,  and  kill  all  the  Komans  but 
Turpilius,  the  governor,  LXVL,  LXVII.  Metellus  recovers  Vacca,  and 
puts  Turpilius  to  death,  LXVilL,  LX1X.  The  conspiracy  of  Bomilcar 
and  Nabdalsa  against  Jugurtha,  and  the  discovery  of  it.  Jugurtha's  dis- 
quietude, LXX.-LXXII.  Metellus  makes  preparations  for  a  second  cam- 
paign. Marius  returns  to  Koine,  and  is  chosen  consul,  and  appointed  to 
command  the  army  in  Numidia,  LXXIII.  Jugurtha's  irresolution.  Me- 
tellus defeats  Mm,  LXXIV.  The  flight  of  Jugurtha  to  Thala.  The  march 
of  Metellus  in  pursuit  of  him,  LXXV.  Jugurtha  abandons  Thala,  and. 
Metellus  takes  possession  of  it,  LXXVI.  Metellus  receives  a  deputation 
from  Lcptis,  and  sends  a  detachment  thither,  LXXV1I.  The  situation 
of  Leptis,  LXXVIII.  Tho  history  of  the  Philceni,  LXXIX.  Jugurtha 
collects  an  army  of  Getulians,  and  gains  the  support  of  Bocchus,  King  of 
Mauritania.  The  two  kings  proceed  toward  Cirta,  LXXX.,  LXXXI. 
Metellus  marches  against  them,  but  hearing  that  Marias  is  appointed  to 
succeed  him,  contents  himself  with  endeavoring  to  alienate  Bocchus  from 
Jnu'urtlia,  and  protracting  the  war  rather  than  prosecuting  it,  LXXXII., 
LX  X  XIII.  The  preparations  of  Marius  for  his  departure,  His  disposition 
toward  the  nobility.  His  popularity,  LXXXIV.  His  speech  to  the  peo- 
ple, LXXXV.  He  complete*  his  levies,  and  arrives  in  Africa,  LXXXVI. 
lie  opens  the  campaign,  LXXXVII.  The  reception  of  Metellus  in  Rome. 
The  successes  and  plans  of  Marius.  The  applications  of  Bocchus, 
LXXXV1II.  Marius  marches  against  Capsa,  and  takes  it,  LXXXIX-XCI. 
He  gains  possession  of  a  fortress  which  the  Numidians  thought  impreg- 
nable, XC1I.-XCIV.  The  arrival  of  Sylla  in  the  camp.  His  character, 
XCV.  His  arts  to  obtain  the  favor  of  Marius  and  the  soldiers,  XCVI. 
Jugurthaand  Bocchus  attack  Marius,  and  are  vigorously  opposed,  XCV1I., 
XCVIII.  Marius  surprises  them  in  the  night,  and  routs  them  with  great 
slaughter,  XC1X.  Marius  prepares  to  go  into  winter  quarters.  His  vig- 
ilance, and  maintenance  of  discipline,  0.  He  fights  a  second  battle  with 
Jugurtha  and  Bocchus,  and  gains  a  second  victory  over  them,  CI.  Ho 
arrives  at  Cirta.  He  receives  a  deputation  from  Bocchus,  and  sends  Sylla 
and  Manlius  to  confer  with  him,  CII.  Marius  undertakes  an  expedition. 
Bocchus  prepares  to  send  embassadors  to  Rome,  who  being  stripped  by 
robbers,  takes  refuge  in  the  Roman  camp,  and  are  entertained  by  Sylla 
during  the  absence  of  Marius,  GUI.  Marius  returns.  The  embassadors 
set  out;  for  Rome.  The  answer  which  they  receive  from  the  senate,  CIV. 
Bocchus  desires  a  conference  with  Sylla ;  Sylla  arrives  at  the  camp  of 
Bocchus,  CV.-CVII.  Negotiations  between  Sylla  and  Bocchus,  CVIII., 


80  SALLTTST. 

CIX.  The  address  of  Bocchus  to  Sylla.,  CX.  The  reply  of  Sylla.  The 
subsequent  transactions  between  them.  The  resolution  of  Bocchus  to 
betray  Jugurtha,  and  the  execution  of  it.  CXI-CXIII.  The  triumph  of 
Marius,  CX1V. 


I.  Mankind  unreasonably  complain  of  their  nature,  that, 
being  weak  and  short-lived,  it  is  governed  by  chance  rather 
than  intellectual  power;1  for,  on  the  contrary,  you  will  find, 
upon  reflection,  that  there  is  nothing  more  noble  or  excellent, 
and  that  to  nature  is  wanting  rather  human  industry  than  ability 
or  time. 

The  ruler  and  director  of  the  life  of  man  is  the  mind,  which, 
when  it  pursues  glory  in  the  path  of  true  merit,  is  sufficiently 
powerful,  efficient,  and  worthy  of  honor,2  and  needs  no  assistance 
from  fortune,  who  can  neither  bestow  integrity,  industry,  or 
other  good  qualities,  nor  can  take  them  away.  But  if  the  mind, 
ensnared  by  corrupt  passions,  abandons  itself3  to  indolence  and 
sensuality,  when  it  has  indulged  for  a  season  in  pernicious  grati- 
fications, and  when  bodily  strength,  time,  and  mental  vigor, 
have  been  wasted  in  sloth,  the  infirmity  of  nature  is  accused, 
and  those  who  are  themselves  in  fault  impute  their  delinquency 
to  circumstances.4 

1  I.  Intellectual  power]  Virtute.  See  the  remarks  on  virtus,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Conspiracy  of  Catiline.  A  little  below,  I  have  rendered 
via  virtutis,  "the  path  of  true  merit." 

a  Worthy  of  honor]  Clarus.  "  A  person  may  be  called  clarus  either  on 
account  of  his  great  actions  and  merits  ;  or  on  account  of  some  honor  which 
he  has  obtained,  ns  the  consuls  were  called  clarissimi  viri  ;  or  on  account 
of  great  expectations  which  are  formed  from  him.  But  since  the  worth  of 
him  who  is  clarus  is  known  by  all,  it  appears  that  the  mind  is  here  called 
dims  because  its  nature  is  such  that  pre-eminence  is  generally  attributed 
to  it,  and  the  attention  of  all  directed  toward  it."  Dietsch. 

3  Abandons  itself]  Pessum  datus  est.  Is  altogether  sunk  and  over- 
whelmed. 

«  Impute  their  delinquency  to  circumstances,  etc.]  Suam  quiiqve  ct/lpam 
ad  negotia  transferunt.  Men  excuse  their  indolence  and  inactivity,  by 
saying  that  the  weakness  of  their  faculties,  or  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  are  placed,  render  them  unable  to  accomplish  any  thing  of  importance. 
But,  says  Seneca,  Satis  natura  Tiomini  dedit  robwis,  si  itto  vtamur  ; — nolle  in 
causa,  non  poise  prxtenditur.  "  Nature  has  given  men  sufficient  powers, 
if  they  will  but  use  them ;  but  they  pretend  that  they  can  not,  when  the 
truth  is  that  they  will  not."  "  Negotia  is  a  common  word  with  Salluet,  for 
which  other  writers  would  use  res,  facta.'1'1  Gerlach.  "Cujus  rei  nos  ipsi 
sumus  auctores,  ejus  culpam  rebus  externis  attribuimus."  Mutter,  "  Auc- 
tores"  is  the  same  as  the  Greek  UITIOI. 


THE  JUGURTITINE  WAR.  81 

If  man,  however,  had  as  much  regard  for  worthy  objects,  as 
he  has  spirit  in  the  pursuit  of  what  is  useless,6  unprofitable,  and 
even  perilous,  he  would  not  be  governed  by  circumstances 
more  than  he  would  govern  them,  and  would  attain  to  a  point 
of  greatness,  at  which,  instead  of  being  mortal,'  he  would  bo 
immortalized  by  glory. 

II.  As  man  is  composed  of  mind  and  body,  so,  of  all  our  con- 
cerns and  pursuits,  some  partake  the  nature  of  the  body,  and 
some  that  of  the  mind.     Thus  beauty  of  person,  eminent  wealth, 
corporeal  strength,  and  all  other  things  of  this  kind,  speedily 
pass  away ;  but  the  illustrious  achievements  of  the  mind  are, 
like  the  mind  itself,  immortal. 

Of  the  advantages  of  person  and  fortune,  as  there  is  a  begin- 
ning, there  is  also  an  end ;  they  all  rise  and  fall,7  increase  and 
decay.  But  the  mind,  incorruptible  and  eternal,  the  ruler  of 
the  human  race,  actuates  and  has  power  over  all  things,8  yet  is 
itself  free  from  control. 

The  depravity  of  those,  therefore,  is  the  more  surprising,  who, 
devoted  to  corporeal  gratifications,  spend  their  lives  in  luxury 
and  indolence,  but  sufier  the  mind,  than  which  nothing  is  better 
or  greater  in  man,  to  languish  in  neglect  and  inactivity ;  es- 
pecially whea  there  are  so  many  and  various  mental  employ- 
ments by  which  the  highest  renown  may  be  attained. 

III.  Of  these  occupations,  however,  civil  and  military  offices,' 


•  Useless]  Alienn.  Unsuitable,  not  to  the  purpose,  not  contributing  to 
the  improvement  of  life. 

«  Instead  of  being  mortal!  Pro  mortolibus.  There  are  two  senses  in 
which  these  words  may  be  taken :  as  far  as  mortals  can,  and  instead  of  being 
mortals.  Kritz  and  Dietech  say  that  the  latter  is  undoubtedly  the  true 
sense.  Other  commentators  are  either  silent  or  say  little  to  the  purpose. 
As  for  the  translators,  they  have  studied  only  how  to  get  over  the  passage 
delicately.  The  latter  sense  is  perhaps  favored  by  what  is  said  in  c.  2, 
that  "  the  illustrious  achievements  of  the  mind  are,  like  the  mind  itself,  im- 
mortal." 

7  II.  They  all  ri?e  and  fall,  etc.]  Omnia  orta  occidvnt,  et  aucta  senescunt. 
This  is  true  of  things  in  general,  but  is  here  spoken  only  of  the  qualities  of 
the  body,  as  De  Brasses  clearly  perceived. 

8  Has  power  over  all  things]  Habetcuncta.  "  All  things  are  in  its  power." 
Dietech.    "&w&  ditione  tenet.    So  Jupiter,  Ov.  Met.  i.  197 : 

Quum  mihi  qui  fulmen,  qui  vos  habeoque  rogoque." 

Bitrnouf. 

So  Aristippns  said,  Habeo  Laidem,  non  Tudbeor  a  Laide,  £,t«  ovtc  l^o/itu. 
Cic.  Epist.  ad  Fam.  ix.  26. 

9  III.  Civil  and  military  offices]  Haglstratus  etimperia.    "  Illo  vocabulo 
ci villa,  hoc  niilituria  nmnera,  significan'tur."     J>ietecA. 

4* 


82  SALLUST. 

aud  all  administration  of  public  affairs,  seem  to  me  at  tlic  pivs- 
ent  time,  by  no  means  to  be  desired;  for  neither  is  honor  con- 
ferred on  merit,  nor  are  those,  who  have  gained  power  by  un- 
lawful means,  the  more  secure  or  respected  for  it.  To  rule  our 
country  or  subjects10  by  force,  though  we  may  have  the  ability, 
and  may  correct  what  is  wrong,  is  yet  an  ungrateful  undertak- 
ing ;  especially  as  all  changes  in  the  state  lead  to11  bloodshed, 
exile,  and  other  evils  of  discord  ;  while  to  struggle  in  ineffectual 
attempts,  and  to  gain  nothing,  by  wearisome  exertions,  but  pub- 
lic hatred,  is  the  extreme  of  madness  ;  unless  when  a  base  and 
pernicious  spirit,  perchance,  may  prompt  a  man  to  sacrifice  his 
honor  and  liberty  to  the  power  of  a  party. 

IV.  Among  other  employments  which  are  pursued  by  the 
intellect,  the  recording  of  past  events  is  of  pre-eminent  utility  ; 
but  of  its  merits  I  may,  I  think,  be  silent,  since  many  have 
spoken  of  then},  and  since,  if  I  were  to  praise  my  own  occupa- 
tion, I  might  be  considered  as  presumptuously12  praising  my- 

18  To  rule  our  country  or  subjects,  etc.]  Nam  ti  quidem  reycre  patriam  aut 
parental,  etc.  Cortius,  Gerlach,  Kritz,  Dietsch,  and  Miiller  are  unanimous 
in  understanding»awifes  as  the  participle  of  the  verb  par  eo.  That  this  is 
the  sense,  says  Gerlach,  is  sufficiently  proved  by  the  conjunction  aut;  for 
if  Sallust  had  meant  parents,  he  would  have  used  ut;  and  in  this  opinion 
Allen  coincides.  Doubtless,  also,  this  sense  of  the  word  suits  extremely 
well  with  the  rest  of  the  sentence,  in  which  changes  in  government  arc 
mentioned.  But  Burnouf,  with  Crispinus,  prefers  to  follow  Aldus  Manu- 
tius,  who  took  the  word  in  the  other  signihcation,  supposing  that  Stillust 
borrowed  the  sentiment  from  Plato,  who  says  in  his  Epistle  ad  Dionis  Prir- 
pinquos:  Tlarcpa  <5£  ^  fir/rfpa  uvx  oaiov  j/yovfiai,  Trpoofiiu&oOai,  ur/  r'oaij 
TrapaQpoovvi/f  ixoftfyoVf'  Bi'av  <5£  narpldi.  Tro/U-maf  /j,era/3oAf/f  r/r/  TT/WIT- 
tyepeiv,  orav  uvev  fyvyuv,  nal  afyayi/f  uvfipuv,  fj.ij  fivvarbv  y  yivecsdai  rf/v 
dpiarf/v.  And  he  makes  a  similar  observation  in  his  Crito:  Tlavraxou 
TroiijTtov,  o  ui>  KEASVOI  %  7ro/Uf  re,  KOI  {/  TTorpif.  -  Biu&rdai  <5l  6v%  oaiov 
OVTE  fj.j)Tf:pa,  bvTE  nartpa'  noM  6?  TOVTUV  ETI  T/TTOV  r^v  narpi6a.  On 
which  sentiments  Cicero,  ad  Fam.  i.  9,  thus  comments:  Id  enim  Juliet  idem 
ille  Plato,  quern  ego  aitctorem  vcJiementer  sequor;  tantum  contendere  in  reputt- 
lica,  quantum  probare  tuis  civibus  possis:  vim  neque  parenti,  neque  patrlai 
afferre  oportere.  There  is  also  another  passage  in  Cicero,  Cat.  i.  3,  which, 
Beems  to  favor  this  sense  of  the  word  :  Si  teparenies  timerent  atque  odissfni 
tui,  nequeeos  ulla  ratione  placare  posses,  ut  opmor,  ab  eorum  oculis  allquo  con- 
celeres;  nunc  te  patria,  quce  com/munis  est  omnivm  nostrum  purens  odit  ac 
metuit,  etc.  Of  the  first  passage  cited  from  Plato,  indeed,  Sallust's  words 
may  seem  to  be  almost  a  translation.  Yet,  as  the  majority  of  commenta- 
tors have  followed  Cortius,  I  have  also  followed  him.  Sallust  has  the  word 
in  this  sense  in  Jug.,  c.  102:  Parentes  abunde  habemus.  So  Veil.  Pat.  ii. 
108  :  Principatis  constans  ex  voluntate  parentium. 

11  Lead  to]  Portendant.  "  Portendere  in  a,  pregnant  sense,  meaning  not 
merely  to  indicate,  but  quasi  secum  ferre,  to  carry  along  with  them." 


'»  IV.  Presumptuously]  Per  insolentiam.    The  same  as  insolenter,  though 


THE  JUOURTniNE  WAR.  S3 

self,  f  believe,  (<><>.  that  (lien-  will  be  some,  who,  because  I 
have  resolved  to  live  unconnected  with  political  affairs,  will 
apply  to  my  arduous  and  useful  labors  the  name  of  idleness  ; 
especially  those  who  think  it  an  important  pursuit  to  court  the 
people,  and  gain  popularity  by  entertainments.  But  if  such 
persons  will  consider  at  what  periods  I  obtained  office,  what 
sort  of  men13  were  then  unable  to  obtain  it,  and  what  de- 
scription of  persons  have  subsequently  entered  the  senate,14 
they  will  think,  assuredly,  that  I  have  altered  my  sentiments 
rather  from  prudence  than  from  indolence,  and  that  more  good 
will  arise  to  the  state  from  my  retirement,  than  from  the  busy 
efforts  of  others. 

I  have  often  heard  that  Quintus  Maximus,15  Publius  Scipio,1' 
and  many  other  illustrious  men  of  our  country,  were  accus- 
tomed to  observe,  that,  when  they  looked  on  the  images  of 
their  ancestors,  they  felt  their  minds  irresistibly  excited  to  the 
pursuit  of  honor.17  Not,  certainly,  that  the  wax,18  or  the 
shape,  had  any  such  influence  ;  but,  as  they  called  to  mind 
their  forefathers'  achievements,  such  a  flame  was  kindled  in  the 
breasts  of  those  eminent  persons,  as  could  not  be  extinguished 
till  their  own  merit  had  equaled  the  fame  and  glory  of  their 
ancestors. 

But,  in  the  present  state  of  manners,  who  is  there,  on  the 


tomporibus  matfistratus  adeptus  sum,  et  quotes  viri,  etc.  "  Sallust  obtained 
the  qusestorship  a  few  years  after  the  conspiracy  of  Catiline,  about  the  time 
•when  the  state  was  agitated  by  the  disorders  of  Clodius  and  his  party.  He 
was  tribune  of  the  people,  A.U.C.  701,  the  year  in  which  Clodius  was  killed 
by  ililo.  He  was  prastor  in  708,  when  Csesar  had  made  himself  ruler.  In 
the  expression  qualfs  riri,  etc.,  he  alludes  chiefly  to  Cato,  who,  when  he 
stood  for  the  prsetorship,  was  unsuccessful."  Burnovf.  Kritzius  defends 
adept  us  sum. 

14  What  description  of  persons  have  subsequently  entered  the  senate] 
"  Caesar  chose  the  worthy  and  unworthy,  as  suited  his  own  purposes,  to  bo 
members  of  the  senate."     Burn«i(f. 

15  Quintus  Maximus]  Qnintus  I'abms  Maximus,  of  whom  Ennius  says, 

Unus  qni  nobis  cunctando  restituit  rem ; 
Non  ponebat  enim  rumores  ante  salutem. 

18  Publins  Scipio]  Scipio  Africanus  the  Elder,  the  conqueror  of  Hannibal. 
See  c.  5. 

17  To  the  pursuit  of  honor]  Ad  vertutem.     Virtus  in  the  same  sense  as  ip 
virtutis  via,  c.  1. 

18  The  wax]  Ceram  illam.    The  images  or  busts  of  their  ancestors,  which 
the  nobility  kept  in  the  halls  of  their  Houses,  were  made  of  wax.    See  Pirn. 
H.  N.  xxxv.,  2. 


84  SALLUST. 

contrary,  that  does  not  rather  emulate  his  forefathers  In  riches 
and  extravagance,  than  in  virtue  and  labor  ?  Even  men  of 
humble  birth,18  who  formerly  used  to  surpass  the  nobility  in 
m^rit,  pursue  power  and  honor  rather  by  intrigue  and  dishon- 
esty, than  by  honorable  qualifications  ;  as  if  the  praeforship, 
consulate,  and  all  other  offices  of  the  kind,  were  noble  and  dig- 
nified in  themselves,  and  not  to  be  estimated  according  to  the 
Worth  of  those  who  fill  them. 

But,  in  expressing  my  concern  and  regret  at  the  manners 
of  the  state,  I  have  proceeded  with  too  great  freedom,  and  at 
too  groat  length.  I  now  return  to  my  subject. 

V.  I  am  about  to  relate  the  war  which  the  Roman  people 
carried  on  with  Jugurtha,  King  of  the  Numidians ;  first,  be- 
cause it  was  great,  sanguinary,  and  of  varied  fortune  ;  and 
secondly,  because  then,  for  the  first  time,  opposition  was  offered 
to  the  power  of  the  nobility ;  a  contest  which  threw  every 
thing,  religious  and  civil,  into  confusion,20  and  was  carried  to 
such  a  height  of  madness,  that  nothing  but  war,  and  the  devas- 
tation of  Italy,  could  put  an  end  to  civil  dissensions.21  But 
before  I  fairly  commence  my  narrative,  I  will  take  a  review  of 
a  few  preceding  particulars,  in  order  that  the  whole  subject 
may  be  more  clearly  and  distinctly  understood. 

In  the  second  Punic  war,  in  which  Hannibal,  the  leader  of 
the  Carthaginians,  had  weakened  the  power  of  Italy  more  than 
any  other  enemy52  since  the  Roman  name  became  great,23 
Masinissa,  King  of  the  Numidians,  being  received  into  alliance 
by  Publius  Scipio,  who,  from  his  merits  was  afterward  sur- 
named  Africanus,  had  performed  for  us  many  eminent  exploits 
in  the  field.  In  return  for  which  services,  after  the  Carthagin- 

18  Men  of  humble  birth]  Homines  novl.    See  Cat.,  c.  23. 

™  V.  Threw  every  tiling,  religious  and  civil,  into  confusion]  Divina  et 
Tiumana  cuncta  permiacuit.  "All  things,  both  divine  and  human,  were  so 
changed,  that  their  previous  condition  was  entirely  subverted."  DietscTi. 

ai  Civil  dissensions]  Studiis  civilibns.  This  is  the  sense  in  which  most 
commentators  take  stadia;  and  if  this  be  right,  the  whole  phrase  must  be 
understood  as  I  have  rendered  it.  So  Cortina  ;  "Ut  non  prius  finirentur 
[studio,  clmlld]  nisi  bello  et  vastitate  Italiae."  Sallust  has  studiapartium, 
Jug.  c.  42  ;  and  Gerlach  quotes  from  Cic.  pro  Marcell.  c.  10 :  "  Nbn  enim 
oon#ili/is  colls  et  studiis.  sed  armis  etiam  et  castris  dissidebamus.'1'' 

25  More  than  any  other  enemy]  Maxime. 

23  Since  the  Kotnan  name  became  great]  Post  magnitudinem  nominix 
Komani.  "I  know  not  why  interpreters  should  find  any  difficulty  in  this 
passage.  I  understand  it  to  signify  simply  since  the  Romans  became  so 
great  as  they  were  in  the  time  of  Hannibal :  for,  before  that  period  they 
had  suffered  even  heavier  calamities,  especially  from  the  Gauls."  Cortius. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR  85 

inns  were  subdued,  and  after  Syphax,24  whose  power  in  Italy 
was  great  and  extensive,  was  taken  prisoner,  the  Roman  people 
presented  to  Masinissa,  as  a  free  gift,  all  the  cities  and  lands 
that  they  had  captured.  Masinissa's  friendship  for  us,  accord- 
ingly, remained  faithful  and  inviolate  ;  his  reign25  and  his  lifo 
ended  together.  His  son,  Micipsa,  alone  succeeded  to  his  king- 
dom ;  Mastanabal  and  Gulussa,  his  two  brothers,  having  been 
carried  off  by  disease.  Micipsa  had  two  sons,  Adherbal  and 
Hiempsal,  and  had  brought  up  in  his  house,  with  the  same  care 
as  his  own  children,  a  son  of  his  brother  Mastanabal,  named 
Jugurtha,  whom  Masinissa,  as  being  the  son  of  a  concubine, 
had  left  in  a  private  station. 

VI.  Jugurtha,  as  he  grew  up,  being  strong  in  frame,  grace- 
ful in  person,  but,  above  all,  vigorous  in  understanding,  did  not 
allow  himself  to  be  enervated  by  pleasure  and  indolence,  but, 
as  is  the  usage  of  his  country,  exercised  himself  in  riding, 
throwing  the  javelin,  and  contending  in  the  race  with  his 
equals  in  age  ;  and,  though  he  excelled  them  all  in  reputation, 
he  was  yet  beloved  by  all.  He  also  passed  much  of  his  time 
in  hunting ;  he  was  first,  or  among  the  first,  to  wound  the  lion 
and  other  beasts ;  he  performed  very  much,  but  spoke  very 
little  of  himself. 

Micipsa,  though  he  was  at  first  gratified  with  these  circum- 
stances, considering  that  the  merit  of  Jugurtha  would  be  an 
honor  to  his  kingdom,  yet,  when  he  reflected  that  the  youth 
was  daily  increasing  in  popularity,  while  he  himself  was  ad- 
vanced in  age,  and  his  children  but  young,  he  was  extremely 
disturbed  at  the  state  of  things,  and  revolved  it  frequently  in 
his  mind.  The  very  nature  of  man,  ambitious  of  power,  and 
eager  to  gratify  its  desires,  gave  him  reason  for  apprehension, 
as  well  as  the  opportunity  afforded  by  his  own  age  and  that 

»*  Syphax]  "  He  was  King  of  the  Masaesyli  in  Numidia ;  was  at  first  an 
enemy  to  the  Carthaginians  (Liv.  xxiv.  48},  and  afterward  their  friend  [Liv. 
xxviii.  17).  He  then  changed  sides  again,  and  made  a  treaty  with  Scipio  ; 
but  having  at  length  been  offered  the  hand  of  Sophoniaba,  the  daughter  of 
Asdrubal,  in  marriage,  ho  accepted  it,  and  returned  into  alliance  with  the 
Carthaginians.  Being  subsequently  taken  prisoner  by  Masinissa  and  Laelius, 
the  lieutenant  of  Scipio,  (Liv.  xxx.  2)  he  was  carried  into  Italy,  and  died  at 
Tibur  (Liv.  xxx.  45)."  Surnouf. 

25  His  reign]  Imperii.  Corti'us  thinks  that  the  grant  of  the  Eornans 
ceased  with  the  life  of  Masinissa,  and  that  his  son.  Alicipsa,  reigned  only 
over  that  part  of  Numidia  which  originally  belonged,  to  his  father.  But  in 
tliis  opinion  succeeding  commentators  have  generally  supposed  him  to  be 
mistaken. 


80  SALLUST. 

of  his  children,  which  was  sufficient,  from  the  prospect  of  such 
a  prize,  to  lead  astray  even  men  of  moderate  desires.  The 
affection  of  the  Numidians,  too,  which  was  strong  toward 
Jugurtha,  was  another  cause  for  alarm  ;  among  whom,  if  he 
should  cut  off  such  a  man,  he  feared  that  some  insurrection  or 
war  might  arise. 

VII.  Surrounded  by  such  difficulties,  and  seeing  that  a  man, 
so  popular  among  his  countrymen,  was  not  to  be  destroyed 
either  by  force  or  by  fraud,  he  resolved,  as  Jugurtha  was  of  an 
active  disposition,  and  eager  for  military  reputation,  to  expose 
him  to  dangers  in  the  field,  and  thus  make  trial  of  fortune. 
During  the  Numantine  Avar,20  therefore,  when  he  was  sending 
supplies  of  horse   and  foot  to  the  Romans,  he  gave  him  the 
command  of  the  Numidians,  whom  he  dispatched  in<o  Spain, 
hoping  that  he  would  certainly  perish,  either   by  an  ostenta- 
tious display  of  his  bravery,  or  by  the  merciless  hand  of  the 
enemy.     But  this  project  had  a  very  different  result  from  that 
which  he  had  expected.     For  when  Jugurtha,  Avho  was  of  an 
active  and  penetrating  intellect,  had  learned  the   disposition 
of  Publius  Scipio,  the  Roman  general,  and  the   character  of 
the  enemy,  he  quickly  rose,  by  great  exertion  and  vigilance,  by 
modestly  submitting  to  orders,  and  frequently  exposing  himself 
to  dangers,  to  such  a  degree  of  reputation,  that  he  was  greatly 
beloved  by  our  men,  and  extremely  dreaded  by  the  Numantines. 
He  was  indeed,  what  is  peculiarly  difficult,  both   brave  in  ac- 
tion, and  wise  in  counsel ;  qualities,  of  which   the   one,  from 
forethought,  generally  produces  fear,  and  the  other,  from  con- 
fidence, rashness.     The  general,  accordingly,  managed  almost 
every  difficult  matter  by  the  aid  of  Jugurtha,  numbered  him 
among  his  friends,  and  grew  daily  more  and  more  attached  to 
him,  as  a  man  whose  advice  and  whose  efforts  were  never  use- 
less.    With  such  merits  were  joined   generosity  of  disposition, 
and  readiness  of  wit,  by  which   he  united  to  himself  many  of 
the  Romans  in  intimate  friendship. 

VIII.  There  were  at  that  time,  in  our  army,  a  number  of 
officers,  some  of  low,  and  some  of  high  birth,  to  whom  wealth 
was  more  attractive  than  virtue  or  honor ;  men  who  were  at- 
tached to  certain  parties,  and   of  consequence  in   their  own 

28  VII.  During  the  Numantine  war]  Bella  Numantino.  Nnmantia. 
which  stood  near  the  source  of  the  Durius  or  Dourn  in  Spain,  was  so  strong 
in  its  situation  and  fortifications,  that  it  withstood  the  Romans  for  fourteen 
years.  See  Florus,  ii.  17,  18  ;  Veil.  Pat.  ii.  4. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  87 

country ;  but,  among  the  allies,  rather  distinguished  than  re- 
spected. These  persons  inflamed  the  mind  of  Jugurtha,  of 
itself  sufficiently  aspiring,  by  assuring  him,  "  that  if  Micipsa 
should  die,  he  might  have  the  kingdom  of  Numidia  to  him- 
self; for  that  he  was  possessed  of  eminent  merit,  and  that  any 
thing  might  be  purchased  at  Rome." 

When  Numantia,  however,  was  destroyed,  and  Scipio  had 
determined  to  dismiss  the  auxiliary  troops,  and  to  return  to 
Rome,  he  lei  Jugurtha,  after  having  honored  him,  in  a  public 
assembly,  with  the  noblest  presents  and  applauses,  into  his 
own  tent ;  where  he  privately  admonished  him  "  to  court 
the  friendship  of  the  Romans  rather  by  attention  to  them 
as  a  body,  than  by  practicing  on  individuals  ;27  to  bribe  no 
one,  as  what  belonged  to  many  could  not  without  danger 
be  bought  from  a  few ;  and  adding  that,  if  he  would  but 
trust  to  his  own  merits,  glory  and  regal  power  would  spon- 
taneously fall  to  his  lot ;  but,  should  he  proceed  too  rashly, 
he  would  only,  by  the  influence  of  his  money,  hasten  his  own 
ruin." 

IX.  Having  thus  spoken,  he  took  leave  of  him,  giving  him 
a  letter,  which  he  was  to  present  to  Micipsa,  and  of  which  the 
following  was  the  purport :  "  The  merit  of  your  nephew 
Jugurtha,  in  the  war  against  Numantia,  has  been  eminently 
distinguished ;  a  fact  which  I  am  sure  will  afford  you  pleas- 
ure. He  is  dear  to  us  for  his  services,  and  we  shall  strive,  with 
our  utmost  efforts,  to  make  him  equally  dear  to  the  senate  and 
people  of  Rome.  As  a  friend,  I  sincerely  congratulate  you ; 
you  have  a  kinsman  worthy  of  yourself,  and  of  his  grandfather 
Masinissa." 

Micipsa,  when  he  found,  from  the  letter  of  the  general,  that 
what  he  had  already  heard  reported  was  true,  being  moved, 
both  by  the  merit  of  the  youth  and  by  the  interest  felt  for 
him  by  Scipio,  altered  his  purpose,  and  endeavored  to  win 
Jugurtha  by  kindness.  He  accordingly,  in  a  short  time,28 

97  VIII.  Rather  by  attention  to  them  as  a  body,  than  by  practicing  on  in- 
dividuals] fublice  quam priiatim.  "  Universae  pothis  civitatis,  quam  priva- 
torum  gratiain  quaereudo."  Burnouf.  The  -words  can  only  be  rendered  peri- 
phrastieally. 

48  IX.  In  a  short  time]  Statim.  If  what  is  said  in  c.  11  be  correct,  that 
Jugurtha  was  adopted  within  three  years  of  Micipsa' s  death,  his  adoption 
did  not  take  place  till  twelve  years  after  the  taking  of  Numantia,  which 
surrendered  in  619,  and  Micipsa  died  in  634.  Statim  is  therefore  used  with 
great  latitude,  unless  we  suppose  Sallust  to  mean  that  Micipsa  signified  to 


88  SALLTJRT. 

fi(!o])ted  him  as  his  son,  and  made  him,  by  his  will,  joint-heir 
with  his  own  children. 

A  few  years  afterward,  when,  being  debilitated  by  age  and 
disease,  he  perceived  that  the  end  of  his  life  was  at  hand,  he 
is  said,  in  the  presence  of  his  friends  and  relations,  and  of  Ad- 
herbal  and  Hiempsal  his  sons,  to  have  spoken  with  Jugurtha 
in  the  following  manner  : 

X.  "  I  received  you,  Jugurtha,  at  a  very  early  age,  into  my 
kingdom,29  at  a  time  when  you  had  lost  your  father,  and  were 
without  prospects  or  resources,  expecting  that,  in  return  for 
my  kindness,  I  should  not  be  less  loved  by  you  than  by  my 
own  children,  if  I  should  have  any.  Nor  have  my  anticipa- 
tions deceived  me ;  for,  to  say  nothing  of  your  other  great 
and  noble  deeds,  you  have  lately,  on  your  return  from  Numan- 
tia,  brought  honor  and  glory  both  to  me  and  my  kingdom ; 
by  your  bravery,  you  have  rendered  the  Romans,  from  being 
previously  our  friends,  more  friendly  to  us  than  ever  ;  the  name 
of  our  family  is  revived  in  Spain  ;  and,  finally,  what  is  most 
difficult  among  mankind,  you  have  suppressed  envy  by  pre- 
eminent merit.30 

"  And  now,  since  nature  is  putting  a  period  to  my  life,  I 
exhort  and  conjure  you,  by  this  right  hand,  and  by  the  fidelity 
which  you  owe  to  my  kingdom,31  to  regard  these  princes,  who 
are  your  cousins  by  birth,  and  your  brothers  by  my  generosity, 
with  sincere  affection ;  and  not  to  be  more  anxious  to  attach 
to  yourself  strangers,  than  to  retain  the  love  of  those  con- 
nected with  you  by  blood.  It  is  not  armies,  or  treasures,32  that 

Jugurtha  his  intention  to  adopt  him  immediately  on  his  return  from  Nu- 
mahtia,  and  that  the  formal  ceremony  of  the  adoption  was  delayed  for  some 
years. 

29  X.  I  received  you — into  my  kingdom]  In  meuum  regnwm  accept.  By 
these  words  it  is  only  signified  that  Micipsa  received  Jugurtha  into  his 
palace  so  as  to  bring  him  up  with  his  own  children.  The  critics  who  sup- 
pose that  there  is  any  allusion  to  the  adaption,  or  a  pretended  intention  of 
it  on  the  part  of  Micipsa,  are  evidently  in  the  wrong. 

«  Pre-eminent  merit]  Gloria.     Our  English  word  fflory  is  too  strong. 

81  By  the  fidelity  which  you  owe  to  my  kingdom]  Per  regni  fidem.  This 
seems  to  be  the  best  of  all  the  explanations  that  have  been  oftered  of  these 
Words.  "  Per  fidem  quam  tu  rex  (futnrus}  milii  regi  prsestare  debes."  Bur- 
novf.  "  Per  fidem  qua  decet  in  regno,  i.  e.  regem.  Dietsch,  "Per  cam 
fidem,  qua  csse  decet  eum  qui  regnnm  obtinet."  Kritzius. 

32  It  id  not  armies,  or  treasures,  etc.]  'Ov  rode  TO  xpvaovv  aKynrpov  TO 
rijv  flaaiheiav  6iaati£6v  £OTIV,  uA/W  oi  TroAAot  0t'Aoi  cui^rpnv  fiaaihevcnv 
uX7]6i:aTa.Tov  Kal  uatyahearaTov.  "  It  is  not  this  golden  scepter  that  can  pre- 
serve a  kinrdom  ;  but  numerous  friends  ure  to  princes  their  trust  and  safest 
Bcepter."  Xeu.  Cyrop.,  viii.  7,  14. 


THE  JUGtTETHINE  WAR.  89 

form  the  defenses  of  a  kingdom,  but  friends,  whom  you  can 
neither  command  by  force  nor  purchase  with  gold  ;  for  they 
are  acquired  only  by  good  offices  and  integrity.  And  who  can 
be  a  greater  friend  than  one  brother  to  another  ?33  Or  what 
stranger  will  you  find  faithful,  if  you  are  at  enmity  with  your 
own  family  ?  I  leave  you  a  kingdom,  which  will  be  strong  if 
you  act  honorably,  but  weak,  if  you  are  ill-affected  to  each 
other  ;  for  by  concord  even  small  states  are  increased,  but  by 
discord,  even  the  greatest  fall  to  nothing. 

"  But  on  you,  Jugurtha.,  who  are  superior  in  age  and  wisdom, 
it  is  incumbent,  more  than  on  your  brothers,  to  be  cautious 
that  nothing  of  a  contrary  tendency  may  arise  ;  for,  in  all  dis- 
putes, he  that  is  the  stronger,  even  though  he  receive  the  in- 
jury, appears,  because  his  power  is  greater,  to  have  inflicted  it. 
And  do  you,  Adherbal  and  Hiempsal,  respect  and  regard  a 
kinsman  of  such  a  character  ;  imitate  his  virtues,  and  make  it 
your  endeavor  to  show  that  I  have  not  adopted  a  better  son34 
than  those  whom  I  have  begotten." 

XI.  To  this  address,  Jugurtha,  though  he  knew  that  the 
king  had  spoken  insincerely,35  and  though  he  was  himself  re- 
volving thoughts  of  a  far  different  nature,  yet  replied  with  good 
feeling,  suitable  to  the  occasion.  A  few  days  afterward  Micipsa 
died. 

When  the  princes  had  performed  his  funeral  with  due  mag- 
nificence, they  met  together  to  hold  a  discussion  on  the  general 
condition  of  their  affairs.  Hiempsal,  the  youngest,  who  was 
naturally  violent,  and  who  had  previously  shown  contempt  for 
the  mean  birth  of  Jugurtha,  as  being  interior  on  his  mother's 
side,  sat  down  on  the  right  hand  of  Adherbal,  in  order  to  pre- 
vent Jugurtha  from  being  the  middle  one  of  the  three,  which 
is  regarded  by  the  Numidians  as  the  seat  of  honor.38  Being 

And  who  can  be  a  greater  friend  than  one  brother  to  another  ?]  Quia 


autem  amicior,  qnamfraterfratri  ?    "  N6p£'  dde^oiif  row? 
Menander."      Wasse. 

84  That  I  have  not  adopted  a  better  son,  &e.]  Neegomdioresliberossumsisge 
videar  quam  genuisse.     As  there  is  no  allusion  to  Micipsa's  adoption  of  any 
other  son  than  Jngurtha,  Sallust's  expression  liberos  sumsisse  can  hardly  bo 
defended.    It  is  neteenaiy  to  give  son  in  the  singular,  in  the  translation. 

85  XI.  Had  spoken  insincerely]  Ficta  locntum.    Jujrurtha  saw  that  Micipsa 
pretended  more  love  for  him  than  he  really  felt.     Compare  c.  6,  7. 

0°  Which  is  regarded  by  the  Numidians  as  the  seat  of  honor]  Quod  apud 
Numitlas  Jionori  ducitur.  "  I  incline,"  says  Sir  Henry  Steuart,  "  to  consider 
those  manuscripts  as  the  most  correct,  in  which  the  word  et  is  placed  im- 
mediately before  apud,  Quod  et  apud  Nwrmdas  honori  d-acUitr."  Sir  Ileury 


90  SALLUST. 

urged  by  his  brother,  however,  to  yield  to  superior  age,  he  at 
length  removed,  but  with  reluctance,  to  the  other  seat.37 

In  the  course  of  this  conference,  after  a  long  debate  about 
the  administration  of  the  kingdom,  Jugurtha  suggested,  among 
other  measures,  "  that  all  the  acts  and  decrees  made  in  the 
last  five  years  should  be  annulled,  as  Micipsa,  during  that 
period,  had  been  enfeebled  by  age,  and  scarcely  sound  in  in- 
tellect." Hiempsal  replied,  "  that  he  was  exceedingly  pleased 
with  the  proposal,  since  Jugurtha  himself,  within  the  last  three 
years,  had  been  adopted  as  joint-heir  to  the  throne."  This  re- 
partee sunk  deeper  into  the  mind  of  Jugurtha  than  any  one 
imagined.  From  that  very  time,  accordingly,  being  agitated 
with  resentment  and  jealousy,  he  began  to  meditate  and  concert 
schemes,  and  to  think  of  nothing  but  projects  for  secretly  cut- 
ting off  Hiempsal.  But  his  plans  proving  slow  in  operation, 
and  his  angry  feelings  remaining  unabated,  he  resolved  to  exe- 
cute his  purpose  by  any  means  whatsoever. 

XII.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  princes,  of  which  I  have 
just  spoken,  it  had  been  resolved,  in  consequence  of  their  dis- 
agreement, that  the  treasures  should  be  divided  among  them, 
and  that  limits  should  be  set  to  the  jurisdiction  of  each.  Days 
were  accordingly  appointed  for  both  these  purposes,  but  the 
earlier  of  the  two  for  the  division  of  the  money.  The  princes, 
in  the  mean  time,  retired  into  separate  places  of  abode  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  treasury.  Hiempsal,  residing  in  the  town 
of  Thirmida,  happened  to  occupy  the  house  of  a  man,  who, 
being  Jugurtha's  chief  lictor,3"  had  always  been  liked  and 

might  have  learned,  had  he  consulted  the  commentators,  that  "  the  wordet 


says  Cortius,  "cum sciret apnd  Komanos  etiam  medium  locum  honoratiorem 
fuissCj  corrigit :  quod  et  apud  Nwnidas  honori  ducitur.  Scd  quis  talia  ab 
historico  exegerit  i  Si  de  Numidis  narrat,  non  facile  aliquis  intulerit,  aliter 
propterea  fuisse  apud  Romanes." 

37  To  the  other  seat]  In  alleram  partem.    "We  must  suppose  that  the  three 
seats  were  placed  ready  for  the  three  princes  ;  that  Adherbal  sat  down  first, 
in  one  of  the  outside  seats  ;  the  one.  namely,  that  would  be  on  the  right 
hand  of  a  spectator  facing  them ;  and  that  Hiempsal  immediately  took  the 
middle  seat,  on  Abherbal's  right  hand,  so  as  to  force  Jugurtha  to  take  the 
other  outside  one.     Abherbal  had  then  to  remove  Hiempsal  in  alteram  par- 
tem, that  is,  to  induce  him  to  take  the  seat  corresponding  to  his  own,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  middle  one. 

38  XII.  Chief  lictor]  Proxumus  lictor.   "  The  proximm  lictor  was  he  who, 
when  the  lictors  walked  before  the  prince  or  magistrate  in  n  regular  line, 
one  behind  the  other,  was  last,  or  next  to  the  person  on  whom  they  attended," 


THE  JUGURTIIINE  WAR.  ;;] 

farored  by  his  master.  This  man,  thus  opportunely  present  1 
as  an  instrument,  Jugurtha  loaded  with  promises,  and  induced 
him  to  go  to  his  house,  as  if  for  the  purpose  of  looking  over  it, 
and  provide  himself  with  false  keys  to  the  gates  ;  for  the  true 
ones  used  to  be  given  to  Hiempsal ;  adding,  that  he  himself, 
when  circumstances  should  call  for  his  presence,  would  be  at 
the  place  with  a  large  body  of  men.  This  commission  the 
Numidian  speedily  executed,  and,  according  to  his  instructions, 
admitted  Jugurtha's  men  ia  the  night,  who,  as  soon  as  they 
had  entered  the  house,  went  different  ways  in  quest  of  the 
prince  ;  some  of  his  attendants  they  killed  while  asleep,  and 
others  as  they  met  them ;  they  searched  into  secret  places, 
broke  open  those  that  were  shut,  and  rilled  the  whole  premises 
with  uproar  and  tumult.  Hiempsal,  after  a  time,  was  found 
concealed  in  the  hut  of  a  maid-servant,39  where,  in  his  alarm 
and  ignorance  of  the  locality,  he  had  at  first  taken  refuge. 
The  Nurnidians,  as  they  had  been  ordered,  brought  his  head  to 
Jugurtha. 

XIII.  The  report  of  so  atrocious  an  outrage  was  roon  spread 
through  Africa.  Fear  seized  on  Adherbal,  and  on  all  who 
had  been  subject  to  Micipsa.  The  Numidians  divided  into  two 
parties,  the  greater  number  following  Adherbal,  but  the  more 
warlike,  Jugurtha ;  who,  accordingly,  armed  as  large  a  force 
as  he  could,  brought  several  cities,  partly  by  force  and  partly 
by  their  own  consent,  under  his  power,  and  prepared  to  make 
himself  sovereign  of  the  whole  of  Numidia.  Adherbal,  though 
he  had  sent  embassadors  to  Rome,  to  inform  the  senate  of  his 
brother's  murder  and  his  own  circumstances,  yet,  relying  on 
the  number  of  his  troops,  prepared  for  an  armed  resistance. 
When  the  matter,  however,  came  to  a  contest,  he  was  defeated, 
and  fled  from  the  field  of  battle  into  our  province,40  and  from 
thence  hastened  to  Rome. 

Cartius.  He  would  thus  be  ready  to  receive  the  great  man's  commands,  and 
be  in  immediate  communication  with  him.  We  must  suppose  either  that 
Sullust  merely  speaks  in  conformity  with  the  practice  of  the  Romans,  or, 
what  is  more  probable,  that  the  Komau  custom  of  being  preceded  by  lictors 
had  been  adopted  in  Isutnidia. 

39  Hut  of  a  maid-servant]  Tugurio  mulieris  ancillfe.  Rose  renders  tugurio 
"a  mean  apartment,"  and  other  translators  have  given  something  similar,  as 
if  they  thought  that  the  servant  must  have  had  a  room  in  the  house.     But 
she,  and  other  Numidiaii  servants,   nviy  have  had  huts  apart  from  the 
dwelling-house.     Tugurlum  undoubtedly  signifies  a  hut  in  general. 

40  XIII.  Into  our  province]  In  Proeincium.     "  The  -vfordpro-oince,  in  this 
]>(ace,  signifies  that  part  of  Africa  which,  after  the  destruction  of  Carthage, 


92  SALLUST. 

Jugurtha,  having  thus  accomplished  his  purposes,41  and  re- 
flecting, at  leisure,  on  the  crime  which  he  had  committed, 
began  to  feel  a  dread  of  the  Roman  people,  against  whose 
resentment  he  had  no  hopes  of  security  but  in  the  avarice 
of  the  nobility,  and  in  his  own  wealth.  A  few  days  afterward, 
therefore,  he  dispatched  embassadors  to  Rome,  with  a  profu- 
sion of  gold  and  silver,  whom  he  directed,  in  the  first  place,  to 
make  abundance  of  presents  to  his  old  friends,  and  then  to  pro- 
cure him  new  ones ;  and  not  to  hesitate,  in  short,  to  effect 
whatever  could  be  done  by  bribery. 

When  these  deputies  had  arrived  at  Rome,  and  had  sent 
large  presents,  according  to  the  prince's  direction,  to  his  inti- 
mate friends,"  and  to  others  whose  influence  was  at  that  time 
powerful,  so  remarkable  a  change  ensued,  that  Jugurtha,  from 
being  an  object  of  the  greatest  odium,  grew  into  great  regard 
and  favor  with  the  nobility;  who,  partly  allured  with  hope, 
and  partly  with  actual  largesses,  endeavored,  by  soliciting  the 
members  of  the  senate  individually,  to  prevent  any  severe 
measures  from  being  adopted  against  him.  When  the  em- 
bassadors, accordingly,  felt  sure  of  success,  the  senate,  on  a 
fixed  day,  gave  audience  to  both  parties.43  On  that  occasion, 
Adherbal,  as  I  have  understood,  spoke  to  the  following  effect: 

XIV.  "  My  father  Micipsa,  Conscript  Fathers,  enjoined  me, 
on  his  death-bed,  to  look  upon  the  kingdom  of  Numidia  as 
mine  only  by  deputation  ;44  to  consider  the  right  and  authority 
as  belonging  to  you ;  to  endeavor,  at  home  and  in  the  field, 
to  be  as  serviceable  to  the  Roman  people  as  possible ;  and  to 
regard  you  as  my  kindred  and  relatives  :4S  saying  that,  if  I  ob- 
served these  injunctions,  I  should  find,  in  your  friendship, 

fell  to  the  Romans  by  the  right  of  conquest,  in  opposition  to  the  kingdom 
of  Micipsa."  Wasse. 

41  Having  thus  accomplished  his  purposes]  Patratis  consUiis.  After  eon- 
gilii-s,  in  all  the  manuscripts,  occur  the  words  postquam  onmis  Numidiat 
potitbatur,  which  were  struck  out  by  (Jortius,  as  being  turpissima  glossa. 
The  recent  editors,  Gerlach,  Kritz,  Dietsch,  and  Burnout',  have  restored 
them. 

«  His  intimate  friends]  HospiiVms.  Persons  probably  with  whom  he  had 
been  intimate  at  Nuraantia,  or  who  had  since  visited  him  in  Numidia. 

«»  The  senate — gave  audience  to  both  parties]  senatus  ittrisqve  datur. 
"The  embassadors  of  Jugurtha,  and  Adherbal  in  person,  are  admitted  into 
the  senate-house  to  plead  their  cause."  Bu/rnouf. 

44  XIV.  By  deputation]  Procuration*.  He  was  to  consider  himself  only 
the  procurator,  manager,  or  deputed  governor,  of  the  kingdom. 

48  Kindred — and  relatives]  Goynatorum — ajfiwvum.  Cognatua  is  a  blood 
relation ;  affims  is  properly  a  relative  by  marriage. 


THE  JUG-URTHINE  WAR.  93 

armies,  riches,  and  all  necessary  defenses  of  my  realm.  By 
these  precepts  I  was  proceeding  to  regulate  my  conduct,  when 
Jugurtha,  the  most  abandoned  of  all  men  whom  the  earth  con- 
tains, setting  at  naught  your  authority,  expelled  me,  the  grand- 
sou  of  Masinissa,  and  the  hereditary46  ally  and  friend  of  the 
Roman  people,  from  my  kingdom  and  all  my  possessions. 

"  Since  I  was  thus  to  be  reduced  to  such  an  extremity  of 
wretchedness,  I  could  wish  that  I  were  able  to  implore  your 
aid,  Conscript  Fathers,  rather  for  the  sake  of  my  own  services 
than  those  of  my  ancestors ;  I  could  wish,  indeed,  above  all, 
that  acts  of  kindness  were  due  to  me  from  the  Romans,  01 
which  I  should  not  stand  in  need ;  and,  next  to  this,47  that,  if 
I  required  your  services,  I  might  receive  them  as  my  due. 
But  as  integrity  is  no  defense  in  itself,  and  as  I  had  no  power 
to  form  the  character  of  Jugurtha,48  I  have  fled  to  you,  Con- 
script Fathers,  to  whom,  what  is  the  most  grievous  of  all  things, 
I  am  compelled  to  become  a  burden  before  I  have  been  an 
assistance. 

"  Other  princes  have  been  received  into  your  friendship  after 
having  been  conquered  in  war,  or  have  solicited  an  alliance 
with  you  in  circumstances  of  distress ;  but  our  family  com- 
menced its  league  with  the  Roman* in  the  war  with  Carthage, 
at  a  time  when  their  faith  was  a  greater  object  of  attraction 
than  their  fortune.  Suffer  not,  then,  O  Conscript  Fathers,  a 
descendent  of  that  family  to  implore  aid  from  you  in  vain.  If 
I  had  no  other  plea  for  obtaining  your  assistance  but  my 
wretched  fortune;  nothing  to  urge,  but  that,  having  been 
recently  a  king,  powerful  by  birth,  by  character,  and  by 
resources,  I  am  now  dishonored,  afflicted,49  destitute,  and  de- 
pendent on  the  aid  of  others,  it  would  yet  become  the  dignity 
of  Rome  to  protect  me  from  injury,  and  to  allow  no  man's 
dominions  to  be  increased  by  crime.  But  I  am  driven  from 
those  very  territories  which  the  Roman  people  gave  to  my 

46  Hereditary]  Ab  stirpe. 

.  "  Next  to  this]  Secundum  ea.  "  Priscianus,  lib.  xiii.,  de  proposition  a 
asrens,  Secundum,  inqnit,  quandopro  K.O.TU  et  //eru  accipitur,  loco  prcepositionis 
est.  Sallustius  in  Ju^urthino :  secundum  ea,  uti  deditis  uterer.  Vide- 
licet hoc  dicit,  Secundum  in  Sallustii  exemplo,  post  \elproxime  significare." 
Rivius. 


Corti/us. 

**  Dishonored,  afflicted]  Deformat 


94  SALLUST. 

ancestors,  and  from  which  my  father  and  grandfather,  in  con- 
junction with  yourselves,  expelled  Syphax  and  the  Cartha- 
ginians. It  is  what  you  bestowed  that  has  been  wrested  from 
me ;  in  my  wrongs  you  are  insulted. 

"  Unhappy  man  that  I  am !  Has  your  kindness,  O  my 
father  Micipsa,  come  to  this,  that  he  whom  you  made  equal 
with  your  children,  and  a  sharer  of  your  kingdom,  should  be- 
come, above  all  others,60  the  destroyers  of  your  race  ?  Shall 
our  family,  then,  never  be  at  peace  ?  Shall  we  always  be 
harassed  with  war,  bloodshed,  and  exile  ?  While  the  Cartha- 
ginians continued  in  power,  we  were  necessarily  exposed  to  all 
manner  of  troubles  ;  for  the  enemy  were  on  our  frontiers  ;  you, 
our  friends,  Avere  at  a  distance  ;  and  all  our  dependence  Avas  on 
our  arms.  But  after  that  pest  was  extirpated,  we  were  happy 
in  the  enjoyment  of  tranquillity,  as  having  no  enemies  but  such 
as  you  should  happen  to  appoint  us.  But  lo !  on  a  sudden, 
Jugurtha,  stalking  forth  with  intolerable  audacity,  wickedness, 
and  arrogance,  and  having  put  to  death  my  brother,  his  own 
cousin,  made  his  territory,  in  the  first  place,  the  prize  of  his 
guilt;  and  next,  being  unable  to  ensnare  me  with  similar 
stratagems,  he  rendered  mo,  Avhen  under  your  rule  I  expected 
any  thing  rather  than  violence  or  war,  an  exile,  as  you  see,  from 
my  country  and  my  home,  the  prey  of  poverty  and  misery,  and 
safer  any  Avhere  than  in  my  own  kingdom. 

"  I  was  always  of  opinion,  Conscript  Fathers,  as  I  had  often 
heard  my  father  observe,  that  those  Avho  cultivated  your  friend- 
ship might  indeed  have  an  arduous  service  to  perform,  but 
would  be  of  all  people  the  most  secure.  What  our  family 
could  do  for  you,  it  has  done ;  it  has  supported  you  in  all  your 
wars ;  and  it  is  for  you  to  provide  for  our  safety  in  time  of 
peace.  Our  father  left  two  of  us,  brothers ;  a  third,  Jugurtha, 
he  thought  would  be  attached  to  us  by  the  benefits  conferred 
upon  him  ;  but  one  of  us  has  been  murdered,  and  I,  the  other, 
have  scarcely  escaped  the  hand  of  lawlessness.61  What  course 

50  Above  all  others]  Potissimijm. 

51  Ouc  of  us  has  been  murdered,  and  I,  the  other,  have  scarcely  escaped 
the  hand  of  lawlessness]  Alter  warn  necatus,  altering  vpseeqo  manus  impias 
vix  efft/yi.     This  is  the  general  reading,  but  it  can  not  be  right.     Adherbal 
speaKS  of  himself  and  his  brother  as  two  persons,  and  of  Jugurtha  as  ft 
third,  and  says  that  of  those  two  the  one  (alter)  has  been  killed ;  he  would 
then  naturally  proceed  to  speak  of  himself  as  the  other;  i.  e.  he  would  u.-'o 
the  word  alter  concerning  himself,  not  apply  it  to  Jugurtha.    Allen,  thcrf- 
fore,  proposes  to  read  alter  necatus,  alkr  inanus  impias  vix  effityi.  This  mode 


THE  JUGtJRTHINE  WAR.  95 

can  I  now  take  ?  Unhappy  that  I  am,  to  what  place,  rather 
than  another,  shall  I  betake  myself?  All  the  props  of  our 
family  are  extinct ;  my  father,  of  necessity,  has  paid  the  debt 
of  nature ;  a  kinsman,  whom  least  of  all  men  it  became,  has 
wickedly  taken  the  life  of  my  brother ;  and  as  for  my  other 
relatives,  and  friends,  and  connections,  various  forms  of  destruc- 
tion have  overtaken  them.  Seized  by  Jugurtha,  some  have 
been  crucified,  and  some  thrown  to  wild  beasts,  while  a  few, 
whose  lives  have  been  spared,  are  shut  up  in  the  darkness  of 
the  dungeon,  and  drag  on,  amid  suffering  and  sorrow,  an 
existence  more  grievous  than  death  itself. 

"  If  all  that  I  have  lost,  or  all  that,  from  being  friendly,  has 
become  hostile  to  me,62  remained  unchanged,  yet,  in  case  of 
any  sudden  calamity,  it  is  of  you  that  I  should  still  have  to 
implore  assistance,  to  whom,  from  the  greatness  of  your  empire, 
justice  and  injustice  in  general  should  be  objects  of  regard. 
And  at  the  present  time,  when  I  am  exiled  from  my  country 
and  my  home,  when  I  am  left  alone,  and  destitute  of  all  that  is 
suitable  to  my  dignity,  to  whom  can  I  go,  or  to  whom  shall  I 
appeal,  but  to  you  ?  Shall  I  go  to  nations  and  kings,  who, 
from  our  friendship  with  Rome,  are  all  hostile  to  my  family  ? 
Could  I  go,  indeed,  to  any  place  where  there  are  not  abundance 
of  hostile  monuments  of  my  ancestors  ?  Will  any  one,  who 
has  ever  been  at  enmity  with  you,  take  pity  upon  me  ? 

"  Masinissa,  moreover,  instructed  us,  Conscript  Fathers,  to 
cultivate  no  friendship  but  that  of  Rome,  to  adopt  no  new 
leagues  or  alliances,  as  we  should  find,  in  your  good-will, 
abundance  of  efficient  support ;  while,  if  the  fortune  of  your 
empire  should  change,  we  must  sink  together  with  it.  But, 
by  your  own  merits,  and  the  favor  of  the  gods,  you  are  great 
a; id  powerful ;  the  whole  world  regards  you  with  favor  and 
yields  to  your  power ;  and  you  are  the  better  able,  in  conse- 
quence, to  attend  to  the  grievances  of  your  allies.  My  only 
fear  is,  that  private  friendship  for  Jugurtha,  too  little  under- 
stood, may  lead  any  of  you  astray ;  for  his  partisans,  I  hear, 
are  doing  their  utmost  in  his  behalf,  soliciting  and  impor- 

of  correction  strikes  out  too  much  ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  second 
alter  should  he  in  the  nominative  case. 

E3  From  being  friendly,  has  become  hostile  to  me]  Ex  nMegsariis  advvrsa 
•'Si  omnia  milii  ineolnmia  mam-rent,  ncnue  quidqnam  ri-rnni 
'im-arum  (s.  prseaidiortim)  amisissi-m,  neque  Jugurtha  aliiquc  iniid  ex  nccts- 
sariis  humki  1'ueti  csMjnt.''     Krit^- 


9*5  SALLUST. 

tuning  you  individually,  to  pass  no  decision  against  one  who 
is  absent,  and  whose  cause  is  yet  untried ;  and  saying  that  I 
state  what  is  false,  and  only  pretend  to  be  an  exile,  when  I 
might,  if  I  pleased,  have  remained  still  in  my  kingdom.  But 
would  that  I  could  see  him,53  by  whose  unnatural  crime  I  am 
thus  reduced  to  misery,  pretending  as  I  now  pretend;  and 
would  that,  either  with  you  or  with  the  immortal  gods,  there 
may  at  length  arise  some  regard  for  human  interests  ;  for  then 
assuredly  will  he,  who  is  now  audacious  and  triumphant  in 
guilt,  be  tortured  by  every  kind  of  suffering,  and  pay  a  heavy 
penalty  for  his  ingratitude  to  my  father,  for  the  murder  of 
my  brother,  and  for  the  distress  which  he  has  brought  upon 
myself. 

"  And  now,  0  my  brother,  dearest  object  of  my  affection, 
though  thy  life  has  been  prematurely  taken  from  thee,  and  by 
a  hand  that  should  have  been  the  last  to  touch  it,  yet  I  think 
thy  fate  a  subject  for  rejoicing  rather  than  lamentation,  for,  in 
losing  life,  thou  hast  not  been  cut  off  from  a  throne,  but  from 
flight,  expatriation,  poverty,  and  all  those  afflictions  which  now 
press  upon  me.  But  I,  unfortunate  that  I  am,  cast  from  the 
throne  of  my  father  into  the  depths  of  calamity,  afford  an 
example  of  human  vicissitudes,  undecided  what  course  to  adopt, 
whether  to  avenge  thy  wrongs,  while  I  myself  stand  in  need 
of  assistance,  or  to  attempt  the  recovery  of  my  kingdom,  while 
my  life  or  death  depends  on  the  aid  of  others." 

"  Would  that  death  could  be  thought  an  honorable  ter- 
mination to  my  misfortunes,  that  I  might  not  seem  to  live  an 
object  of  conteinpt,  if,  sinking  under  my  afflictions,  I  tamely 
submit  to  injustice.  But  now  I  can  neither  live  with  pleasure, 
nor  can  die  without  disgrace."  I  implore  you,  therefore,  Con- 

63  But  would  that  I  could  see  him,  etc.]  Quodutinamittum — videam.  The 
quod,  in  quod  uti/nam,  is  the  same  as  that  in  quod  si,  which  we  commonly 
translate,  but  if.    Quod,  in  such  expressions,  serves  as  a  particle  of  connection 
between  what  precedes  and  what  follows  it;  the  Latins  being  fond  of  con-, 
nection  by  means  of  relatives.    See  Zumpt's  Lat.  Grammar  on  this  point, 
Sect.  63,  82,   Kenrick's  translation.     Kntzius  writes  quodvtinam,  gvodsi, 
quodmlsi,  etc.,  as  one  word.    Cortius  injudiciously  interprets  quod  in  this 
passage  as  having  facientem  understood  with  it. 

64  My  life  or  death  depends  on  the  aid  of  others]  Gujas  vita  necisque  ex 
opibus  alienis  pendet.     On  the  aid  of  the  Eomans.    Unless  they  protected 
him,  he  expected  to  meet  with  the  same  fate  as  Hiempsal  at  the  hands  of 
Jugurtha. 

5*  Without  disgrace]  Sine  dedec&re.    That  is,  if  he  did  not  succeed  in  get' 
ting  revenge  on  Jugurtha. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  97 

script  Fathers,  by  your  regard  for  yourselves,50  for  your 
children,  and  for  your  parents,  and  by  the  majesty  of  the 
lioman  people,  to  grant  me  succor  in  my  distress,  to  arrest 
the  progress  of  injustice,  and  not  to  sufter  the  kingdom  of 
Kumidia,  which  is  your  own  property,  to  sink  into  ruin" 
through  villainy  and  the  slaughter  of  our  family." 

XV.  When  the  prince  had  concluded  his  speech,  the  em- 
bassadors  of  Jugurtha,  depending  more  on  their  money  than 
their  cause,  replied,  in  a  few  words,  "  that  Hiemps.J  had  been 
put  to  death  by  the  Numidians  for  his  cruelty  ;  that  Adherbal, 
commencing  war  of  his  own  accord,  complained,  after  he  was 
defeated,  of  being  unable  to  do  injury ;  and  that  Jugurtha  en- 
treated the  senate  not  to  consider  him  a  different  person  from 
what  he  had  been  known  to  be  at  Xumautia,  nor  to  set  the 
assertions  of  his  enemy  above  his  own  conduct." 

Both  parties  then  withdrew  from  the  senate-house,  and  the 
senate  immediately  proceeded  to  deliberate.  The  partisans  of 
the  embassadors,  wiih  a  great  many  others,  corrupted  by  their 
influence,  expressed  contempt  for  the  statements  of  Adherbal, 
extolled  with  the  highest  encomiums  the  merits  of  Jugurtha, 
and  exerted  themselves  as  strenuously,  Avith  their  interest  and 
eloquence,  in  defense  of  the  guilt  and  infamy  of  another,  as 

»«  By  your  regard  for  yourselves,  etc.]  I  have  here  departed  from  the 
text  of  Cortius,  who  reads  per,  wts,  liberos  atq-ue parentes,  i.  e.  vos  (obsecro)  per 
liberos,  etc.,  as  most  critics  would  explain  it,  though  Cortins  himself  prefers 
taking  vos  as  the  nominative  case,  and  joining  it  with  sul/venite,  winch  fol- 
lows. Most  other  editions  have  per  vos,  per  liberos,  atque  parentes  vestros,  to 
which  I  have  adhered.  Per  vos,  though  an  ndjura'ion  not  used  in  modern 
times,  is  found  in  other  passages  of  the  Roman  writers.  Thus  Liv.  xxix. 
18  :  Per  vos,  fidtmque  vest  ram.  Cic.  pro  Plane.,  c.  42 ;  Per  vos,  perfortunas 
vestras. 

57  To  sink  into  ruin]  Tabescere.  "Paullatim  interire."  Corlins.  Lucret. 
ii.  1172 :  Omnia paullatim  talescere  el  ire  Ad  capulum. 

"This  speech,  says  Gerlach,  "though  of  less  weighty  argument  than 
the  other  speeches  of  Sallust,  is  composed  with  great  ait.  Neither  the 
speaker  nor  his  cause  was  adapted  for  the  highest  nights  of  eloquence ;  but 
Sallust  has  shrouded  Adherbal's  weakness  in  excellent  language.  That 
there  is  a  constant  recurrence  to  the  same  tonics,  is  no  ground  for  blame  : 
indeed,  such  recurrence  could  hardly  be  avoided,  for  it  is  natural  to  all 
speeches  in  which  the  orator  earnestly  labors  to  make  his  hearers  adopt  his 
own  feelings  and  views.  The  Romans  were  again  and  again  to  be  suppli- 
cated, and  again  and  again  to  be  reminded  of  the  character  and  services  of 
Masinissa,  that  they  might  be  induced,  if  not  by  the  love  of  justice,  yet  by 
the  dread  of  censure,  to  relieve  the  distresses  of  his  grandson.  ...  He 
omits  no  argument  or  representation  that  could  move  the  pity  of  the  Ro- 
mans ;  and  if  his  abject  prostration  of  mind  appears  more  suitable  to  a 
v.-i  Miian  than  a  man,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  it  is  purposely  introduced 
1  -.  .S-llubt  to  exhibit  the  weakness  of  his  character." 

5 


98  SALLUST. 

they  would  have  striven  for  their  own  honor.  A  few,  however, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  whom  right  and  justice  were  of  more 
estimation  than  wealth,  gave  their  opinion  that  Adherbal  should 
be  assisted,  and  the  murder  of  Iliempsal  severely  avenged.  Of 
all  these  the  most  forward  was  ^Emilius  Scaurus/8  n  man  of 
noble  birth  and  great  energy,  but  factious,  and  ambitious  of 
power,  honor,  and  wealth  ;  yet  an  artful  concealer  of  his  own 
vices.  He,  seeing  that  the  bribery  of  Jugurtha  was  notorious 
and  shameless,  and  fearing  that,  as  in  such  cases  often  happens, 
its  scandalous  profusion  might  excite  public  odium,  restrained 
himself  from  the  indulgence  of  his  ruling  passion.6" 

XVI.  Yet  that  party  gained  the  superiority  in  the  senate, 
which  preferred  money  and  interest  to  justice.  A  decree  was 
made,  "  that  ten  commissioners  should  divide  the  kingdom, 
which  Micipsa  had  possessed,  between  Jugurtha  and  Adherbal." 
Of  this  commission  the  leading  person  was  Lucius  Opimius,cu 
a  man  of  distinction,  and  of  great  influence  at  that  time  in  the 
senate,  from  having  in  his  consulship,  on  the  death  of  Caius 


58  XV.  jEmilius  Scaurus]  He  yra&prineept  senatita  (see  c.  25),  and 
to  be  pretty  faithfully  characterized  by  Sallust  as  a  m:m  of  eminent  abilities, 
but  too  avaricious  to  be  strictly  honest.  Cicero,  who  alludes  to  him  in 
many  passages  with  commendation  (Oft1.,  i.  20,  30  ;  Brut.,  29  ;  Pro  Muracn.,  7  ', 
Pro  ionteio,  7),  mentions  an  anecdote  respecting  him  (De  Orat.  5i.  70), 
which  shows  that  he  had  a  general  character  for  covetousness.  See  Pliny, 
II.  N.  xxxvi.  14.  Valerius  Maxiinus(iii.  7,  8)  tells  another  anecdote  of  him, 
which  shows  that  he  must  have  been  held  in  much  esteem,  for  whatever 
qualities,  by  the  public.  Being  accused  before  the  people  of  having  taken 
a  bribe  from  Mithridates,  he  made  a  few  remarks  on  hid  own  general  con- 
duct ;  and  added,  "  Varius  of  Sucro  says  that  Marcus  Scaurus.  being  bribed 
with  the  king's  money,  has  betrayed  the  interests  of  the  Roman  people. 
Marcus  Scaurus  denies  that  lie  is  guilty  of  what  is  laid  to  his  charge.  Which 
of  the  two  do  you  believe  ?"  The  people  dismissed  the  accusation  ;  but  the 
words  of  Scaurus  may  be  regarded  as  those  of  a  man  rather  seeking  to  con- 
vey a  notion  of  his  innocence,  than  cupablc  of  proving  it.  The  circum- 
stance which  Cicero  relates  is  this  :  Scaurus  had  incurred  some  obloquy  for 
having,  as  it  was  said,  taken  possession  of  the  property  of  a  certain  rich 
man,  named  Phyrgio  Pompeius,  without  being  entitled  to  it  by  any  will; 
and  being  engaged  as  an  advocate  in  some  cause,  Memmius,  who  was  plead- 
ing on  the  opposite  side,  seeing  a  funeral  pass  by  at  the  time,  said,  "  Scau- 
rus, yonder  is  a  dead  man,  on  his  way  to  the  grave  ;  if  you  can  but  get  pos- 
session of  his  property  !"  I  mention  these  matters,  because  it  has  been 
thought  that  Sallust,  from  some  ill-feeling,  represents  Scaurus  as  more 
avaricious  than  he  really  was. 

™  His  ruling  passion]  Ccmsueta  liJndme.     Namely,  avarice. 

*•  XVI.  Lucius  Opimius]  His  contention  with  the  party  of  C.  Gracchus 
,^ay  be  seen  in  any  history  of  Rome.  For  receiving  bribes  from  Jugurtha 
lie  was  publicly  accused,  and  being  condemned,  ended  his  life,  which  waa 
protracted  to  old  age,  in  exile  and  neglect.  Cic.  Brut.  33  ;  Plane.  28. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  99 

Gracchus  and  Marcus  Fulvius  Flaccus,  prosecuted  the  victory 
of  the  nobility  over  the  plebeians  with  great  severity. 

Jugurtha,  though  he  had  already  counted  Scaurus  among 
his  friends  at  Rome,  yet  received  him  with  the  most  studied 
ceremony,  and,  by  presents  and  promises,  wrought  on  him  so 
effectually,  that  he  preferred  the  prince's  interest  to  his  own 
character,  honor,  and  all  other  considerations.  The  rest  of 
the  commissioners  he  assailed  in  a  similar  way,  and  gained 
over  most  of  them  ;  by  a  few  only  integrity  was  more  regarded 
than  lucre.  In  the  division  of  the  kingdom,  that  part  of  Xu- 
midia  which  borders  on  Mauretania,  and  which  is  superior  in 
fertility  and  population,  was  allotted  to  Jugurtha  ;  of  the  other 
part,  which,  though  better  furnished  with  harbors  and  build- 
ings, was  more  valuable  in  appearance  than  in  reality,  Adherbal 
became  the  possessor. 

XVII.  My  subject  seems  to  require  of  me,  in  this  place,  a 
brief  account  of  the  situation  of  Africa,  and  of  those  nations 
in  it  with  whom  we  have  had  war  or  alliances.  But  of  those 
tracts  and  countries,  which,  from  their  heat,  or  difficulty  of 
access,  or  extent  of  desert,  have  been  but  little  visited,  I  can  not 
possibly  give  any  exact  description.  Of  the  rest  I  shall  speak 
with  all  possible  brevity. 

In  the  division  of  the  earth,  most  writers  consider  Africa  as 
a  third  part ;  a  few  admit  only  two  divisions,  Asia  and  Europe,61 
and  include  Africa  in  Europe.  It  is  bounded,  on  the  west,  by 
the  strait  connecting  our  sea  with  the  ocean  ;62  on  the  east,  by 
a  vast  sloping  tract,  which  the  natives  call  the  Catabathmos.63 
The  sea  is  boisterous,  and  deficient  in  harbors ;  the  soil  is  fertile 
in  corn,  and  good  for  pasturage,  but  unproductive  of  trees. 
There  is  a  scarcity  of  water  both  from  rain  and  from  land- 
springs.  The  natives  are  healthy,  swift  of  foot,  and  able  to 

81  XVII.  Only  two  divisions,  Asia  and  Europe]  Thus  Varro,  de  L.  L.  iv. 
13,  ed.  Bip.  "  As  all  nature  is  divided  into  heaven  and  earth,  so  the  heaven 
is  divided  into  regions,  and  the  earth  into  Asia  and  Europe."  See  Broukh. 
ad  Tibull.,  iv.  1,  176. 

m  The  strait  connecting  our  sea  with  the  ocean]  Frttvm  nostri  maris  et 
'.  That  is,  the  Fretum  Gaditanum,  or  Strait  of  Gibraltar.  By  our  sea, 
be  means  the  Mediterranean.  See  Pomp.  Mela,  i.  1. 

63  A  vast  sloping  tract — Catabathmos]  Dedivem  latitudinem,  quern  locum 
••Hint.  Catabathmux — valli*  r>>"ii;<  «mr<.ra,  Plin.  H. 

N.  v.  5.  Catafiathmns,  vallit  devexa  in  jEqptum,  Pomp.  Mela,  i.  8.  I  havo 
translated  dfcli'Cfm  latUudinem  in  conformity  with  these  passages.  Cutabafi.- 
m>/8,  a  Greek  word,  means  a  descent.  There  were  two,  the  majcr  ai^ 
minor;  Sallust  speaks  of  the  major. 


100  SALLUST. 

endure  fatigue.  Most  of  them  die  by  the  gradual  decay  of 
age,84  except  such  as  perish  by  the  swr  r,l  or  beasts  of  prey  ;  for 
disease  finds  but  few  victims.  Animnls  of  a  venomous  nature 
they  have  in  great  numbers. 

Concerning  the  original  inhabitants  of  Africa,  the  settlers 
that  afterward  joined  them,  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
intermingled,  I  shall  offer  the  following  brief  account,  which, 
though  it  differs  from  the  general  opinion,  is  that  which  was 
interpreted  to  me  from  the  Punic  volumes  said  to  have  be- 
longed to  King  Hiempsal,65  and  which  the  inhabitants  of  that 
country  believe  to  be  consistent  with  fact.  For  the  truth  of 
the  statement,  however,  the  writers  themselves  must  be  re- 
sponsible. 

XVIII.  Africa,  then,  was  originally  occupied  by  the  Getu- 
lians  and  Libyans,66  rude  and  uncivilized  tribes,  who  sub- 
sisted on  the  flesh  of  wild  animals,  or,  like  cattle,  on  the  herb- 
age of  the  soil.  They  were  controlled  neither  by  customs, 
laws,  nor  the  authority  of  any  ruler ;  they  wandered  about, 
without  fixed  habitations,  and  slept  in  the  abodes  to  which 
night  drove  them.  But  after  Hercules,  as  the  Africans  think, 
perished  in  Spain,  his  army,  which  was  composed  of  various 
nations,07  having  lost  its  leader,  and  many  candidates  severally 
claiming  the  command  of  it,  was  speedily  dispersed.  Of  its 
constituent  troops,  the  Modes,  Persians,  and  Armenians,8"  hav- 

61  Most  of  them  die  by  the  gradual  decay  of  age]  Plerosque  senectus  dis- 
solvit  "A  happy  expression;  since  the  effect  of  old  age  on  the  bodily 
frame  is  not  to  break  it  in  pieces  suddenly,  but  to  dissolve  it,  as  it  were, 
gradually  and  imperceptibly."  B>u 

85  King  Hiempsul]  "This  is  not  the  prince  that  was  murdered  by  Jngur- 
tha,  but  the  king  who  succeeded  him ;  ho  was  grandson  of  Masinissa,  sou 
of  Gulussa,  and  father  of  Juba.  After  Juba  was  killed  at  Tliapsus,  Caesar 
reduced  Numidia  to  the  condition  of  a  province,  and  appointed  Snllust  over 
it,  who  had  thus  opportunities  of  gaining  a  knowledge  of  the  country,  and 
of  consulting  the  books  written  in  the  language  of  it.1'  Burmcmf. 

66  XVIII.  Getulians  and  Libyans]  Gcetuli  et  Libyes.  "  See  Pompon.  Mel. 
i.  4;  Plin.  II.  N.  v.  4,  6,  8,  v.  2,  xxi.  13;  Herod,  iv.  159,  108."  Gerladi. 
The  name  Gattuli,  is,  however,  unknown  to  Herodotus.  They  lay  to  the 
south  of  Numidia  and  Mnuretania.  See  Strabo,  xvii.  3.  Libi/es  is  a  term 
applied  by  the  Greek  writers  properly  to  the  Africans  of  the  JN'orth  coast, 
but  frequently  to  the  inhabitants  of  Africa  in  general. 

07  His  army,  which  was  composed  of  various  nations]  This  seems  to  have 
been  an  amplification  of  the  adventure  of  Hercules  with  Geryon,  who  was 
a  king  in  Spain.  But  all  stories  that  make  Hercules  a  leader  of  armies  ap- 
pear to  be  equally  fabulous. 

«8  Medes,  Persians,  and  Armenians]  De  Brosses  thinks  that  these  were 
not  real  Medes,  etc.,  but  th::t  the  names  were  de  ived  from  ceituiu  compan- 
ions of  Hercules.  The  point  is  not  worth  discussion. 


THE  JUGURTniNE  WAR.  101 

ing  sailed  over  into  Africa,  occupied  the  parts  nearest  to  our 
sea.""  The  Persians,  however,  settled  more  toward  the  ocean,7" 
and  used  the  inverted  keels  of  their  vessels  for  huts,  there  being 
n<>  wood  in  the  country,  and  no  opportunity  of  obtaining  it, 
either  by  purchase  or  barter,  from  the  Spaniards ;  for  a  wide 
sea,  and  an  unknown  tongue,  were  barriers  to  all  intercourse. 
These,  by  degrees,  formed  intermarriages  with,  the  Getulians ; 
and  because,  from  constantly  trying  different  soils,  they  were 
perpetually  shifting  their  abodes,  they  called  themselves  Nu- 
MiDiANS.71  And  to  this  day  the  huts  of  the  Numidian  boors, 
which  they  call  mapalia,  are  of  an  oblong  shape,  with  curved 
roofs ;  resembling  the  hulls  of  ships. 

The  Modes  and  Armenians  connected  themselves  with  the 
Libyans,  who  dwelled  near  the  African  sea  ;  while  the  Getulians 
lay  more  to  the  sun,72  not  far  from  the  torrid  heats ;  and  these 
soon  built  themselves  towns,73  as,  being  separated  from  Spain 
only  by  a  strait,  they  proceeded  to  open  an  intercourse  with  its 
inhabitants.  The  name  of  Medes  the  Libyans  gradually  cor- 
rupted, changing  it,  in  their  barbarous  tongue,  into  Moors.7* 

Of  the  Persians7  b  the  power  rapidly  increased  ;  and  at  length, 

89  Our  sea]  The  Mediterranean.    See  above,  c.  17. 

'°  More  toward  the  Ocean]  Intro,  oceanum  nuigis.  "Inira  oceanum  is  dif- 
ferently explained  by  different  commentators.  Cortius,  Muller  and  Gerlach, 
understand  the  parts  bounded  by  the  ocean,  lying  close  upon  it,  and  stretch- 
ing toward  the  west ;  while  Langius  thinks  that  the  regions  more  remote 
from  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  extending  toward  the  east,  are  meant.  But 
Langius  did  not  consider  that  those  who  had  inverted  keels  of  vessels  for 
cottages,  could  not  have  strayed  fur  from  the  ocean,  but  must  have  settled 
in  parts  bordering  upon  it.  And  this  is  what  is  signified  by  intra  oceanum. 
For  intra,  allquam  rem  is  not  always  used  to  denote  what  is  actually  in  a 
thing,  and  circumscribed  by  its  boundaries,  but  what  approaches  toward  it, 
and  reaches  close  to  it."  'Kntzius.  He  then  instances  'intra  modum,  intra 
legem ;  Hortensii  scripia  intra  famam  stint,  Quintil.  xi.  3,  8.  But  the  best 
example  which  he  produces  is  Liv.  xxv.  11 :  Fossa  ingens  ducta,  etvattunt, 
intra  earn  erigitur.  Cicero,  in  Verr.  iii.  89,  has  also,  he  notices,  the  same 
expression,  Locus  iutraoceanum^'awi  nuttus  est — quo  twn  nostrorum  Tiomimim 
libulo  iniquiiasque  pervaserit,  i.  e.,  locus  oceano  conterminus.  Burnouf  ab- 
surdly IbLows  Langius. 

71  Numidians]  Simula**  The  same  as  Nomades,  or  wanderers  ;  a  term 
applied  to  pastoral  nations,  and  which,  as  Kritzins  observes,  the  Africans 
must  have  had  from  the  Greeks,  perhaps  those  of  Sicily. 

751  More  to  the  sun]  sub  sole  magis.  1  have  borrowed  this  expression  from 
Eose.  The  Getulians  were  more  southward. 

73  These  soon  built  themselves  towns]  That  is,  the  united  Medes,  Arme- 
nians, and  Libyans. 

73  Medes — into  Moors]  Mauris  pro  Medis.  A  most  improbable,  not  to  say 
impossible  corruption. 

74  Of  the  Persians]  Persarum.    That  is,  of  the  Persians  and  Getuliana 
united. 


102  SALLUST. 

the  children,  through  excess  of  population,  separating  from  the 
parents,  they  took  possession,  under  the  name  of  Numidians,  of 
tho33  regions  bordering  on  Carthage  which  are  now  called 
Numidia.  In  process  of  time,  the  two  parties,78  each  assisting 
the  other,  reduced  the  neighboring  tribes,  by  force  or  fear, 
under  their  sway  ;  but  those  who  had  spread  toward  our  sen, 
made  the  greater  conquests  :  for  the  Lybians  are  less  warlike 
fian  the  Getulians.77  At  last  nearly  all  lower  Africa7"  wa.; 
occupied  by  the  Numidians;  and  all  the  conqiK-re  1  tribe.-, 
were  merged  in  the  nation  and  name  of  their  conquerors. 

XIX.  At  a  later  period,  the  Phoenicians,  some  of  whom 
wished  to  lessen  their  numbers  at  home,  and  others,  ambitious 
of  empire,  engaged  the  populace,  and  such  as  were  eager  for 
change,  to  follow  them,  founded  Hippo,78  Adrumetum,  Leptis,80 
and  other  cities,  on  the  sea-coast  ;  which,  soon  growing  power- 
ful, became  partly  a  support,  and  partly  an  honor,  to  their 
parent  state.  Of  Carthage  I  think  it  better  to  be  silent,  than  to 
say  but  little  ;  especially  as  time  bids  me  hasten  to  other  matters. 

Next  to  the  Catabathmos,81  then,  which  divides  Egypt  from 
Africa,  the  first  city  along  the  sea-coast"  is  Cyrene,  a  colony  of 

70  The  two  parties]  Utriqiie.  The  older  Numidians,  and  the  younger, 
who  had  emigrated  toward  Carthage. 

77  Those  who  had  spread  toward  our  sea  —  for  the  Libyans  are  less  war- 
like than  the  Getulians]  Mag'is  hi,  qui  ad  nostrum  mare  processerant  ;  quia 
Libyfs  quam  Gcetuli  minus  bellicf/si.  The  Persians  and  Getulians  (under  the 
name  of  Numidians),  and  their  colonists,  who  were  more  toward  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  were  more  warlike  than  the  Libyans  (who  were  united  with 
the  Medes  and  Armenians)  took  from  them  portions  of  their  territories  by 
conquest.  This  is  clearly  the  sense,  as  deduciblc  from  the  preceding  por- 
tion of  the  text. 

™  Lower  Africa]  Africa  pars  inferior.  The  part  nearest  to  the  r-ea.  The 
nncients  called  the  maritime  parts  of  a  country  the  lower  parts,  and  the  in- 
land parts  the  Jiiqher,  taking  the  notion,  probably,  from  the  course  of  the 
rivers.  Lower  l^gypt  was  the  part  at  the  mouth  of  the  Nile. 


79  XIX.  Hippo]  "It  is  not  Hippo  Regius"  (now  called  Bono)  "that  is 
meant,  but  another  Hippo,  otherwise  called  Diarrhytnm  or  Zarytum, 
situate  in  Zengitana,  not  far  from  Utica.  This  is  shown  by  the  order 
in  which  the  places  are  named,  as  has  already  been  observed  by  Cortius." 
Kritziu*. 

b(J  Leptis]  There  were  two  cities  of  this  name.  Leptis  Major,  now 
Lebida,  lay  between  the  two  Syrtes  ;  Leptis  Minor,  now  Lempta,  between 
the  smaller  Sytis  and  Carthage.  It  is  the  latter  that  is  meant  Jicre,  and  in 
c.  77,  78. 

81  Next  to  the  Catabathmos]  Ad  Catabatkmon.  Ad  means,  on  the  side  of 
the  country  toward  the  Catabathmos.  "  Catabathmon  initium  ponens  Sal- 
1  nsti  as  ab  eo  disced!*,."  Kritzius. 

"2  Along  the  sea-coast]  Secundo  mari.  "  Si  quis  secundum  mare  pergat." 
Wj,ssc. 


THE  JUGURTHINR  WAR  103 

Therreans  f3  after  which  are  the  two  Syrtes,84  with  Leptis83 
between  them ;  then  the  Altars  of  the  Philseni,88  which  the 
Carthaginians  considered  the  boundary  of  their  dominion  on 
the  side  of  Egypt;  beyond  these  are  the  other  Punic  towns. 
The  other  regions,  as  far  as  Mauretania,  the  Numidians  occupy ; 
the  Moors  are  nearest  to  Spain.  To  the  south  of  Numidia,87  as 
we  are  informed,  are  the  Getulians,  of  whom  some  live  in  huts, 
and  others  lead  a  vagrant  and  less  civilized  life ;  beyond  these 
are  the  Ethiopians  ;  and  further  on,  regions  parched  by  the  heat 
of  the  sun. 

At  the  time  of  the  Jugurthine  war,  most  of  the  Punic  towns, 
and  the  territories  which  Carthage  had  lately  possessed,88  were 
under  the  government  of  Roman  pnetors ;  a  great  part  of  the 
Getulians,  and  Numidia  as  far  as  the  river  Mulucha,  were  sub- 
ject to  Jugurtha ;  while  the  whole  of  the  Moors  were  governed 
by  Bocchus,  a  king  who  knew  nothing  of  the  Romans  but 
their  name,  and  who,  before  this  period,  was  as  little  known  to 
us,  either  in  war  or  peace.  Of  Africa  and  its  inhabitants  I 
have  now  said  all  that  my  narrative  requires. 

XX.  When  the  commissioners,  after  dividing  the  kingdom, 
had  left  Africa,  and  Jugurtha  saw  that,  contrary  to  his  appre- 
hensions, he  had  obtained  the  object  of  his  crimes ;  he  then 
being  convinced  of  the  truth  of  what  he  had  heard  from  his 
friends  at  Numantia,  "that  all  things  were  purchasable  at 
Rome,"  and  being  also  encouraged  by  the  promises  of  those 
whom  he  had  recently  loaded  with  presents,  directed  his  views 
to  the  domain  of  Adherbal.  He  was  himself  bold  and  warlike, 
while  the  other,  at  whose  destruction  he  aimed,  was  quiet,  unfit 
for  arms,  of  a  mild  temper,  a  fit  subject  for  injustice,  and  a 
prey  to  fear  rather  than  an  object  of  it.  Jugurtha,  accordingly, 
with  a  powerful  force,  made  a  sudden  irruption  into  his  do- 
minions, took  several  prisoners,  with  cattle  and  other  booty,  set 
fire  to  the  buildings,  and  made  hostile  demonstrations  against 

83  Of  Therseans]  Therceon.  From  the  island  of  Thcra,  one  of  the  Sporades, 
in  the  JEgean  Sea,  now  called  Santorin.  Battus  was  the  leader  of  the  colony. 
See  Herod.,  iv.  145;  Strab.,  xvii.  3;  Find.  Pyth.,  iv. 

*••«  Two  Syrtes]  See  c.  78. 

fo  Leptis]  That  is,  Ltptis  Major.     See  above  on  this  c. 

M  Altars  of  the  PhilseniJ  see  c.  79. 

"  To  the  south  of  Numidia]  Super  Sumidiam.  "Ultra  Nnmidiam,  meri- 
diem versus.  Burnouf. 

«  Had  lately  possessed]  Jfovissime  habutrant.  In  the  interval  between  the 
second  and  third  Punic  wars. 


104  SALLUST. 

several  places  with  his  cavalry.  He  then  retreated,  with  all  IIM 
followers,  into  his  own  kingdom,  expecting  that  Ad  herbal, 
roused  by  such  provocation,  would  avenge  his  wrongs  by  force, 
and  thus  furnish  a  pretext  for  war.  But  Adherbal,  thinking 
himself  unable  to  meet  Jugurtha  in  the  field,  and  relying  on 
the  friendship  of  the  Romans  more  than  on  the  Numidians, 
merely  sent  embassadors  to  Jugurtha  to  complain  of  the  out- 
rage ;  and,  although  they  brought  back  but  an  insolent  reply, 
yet  he  resolved  to  endure  any  thing  rather  than  have  recourse 
to  war,  which,  when  he  attempted  it  before,  had  ended  in  his 
defeat.  By  such  conduct  the  eagerness  of  Jugurtha  was  not  at 
all  allayed ;  for  he  had  now,  indeed,  in  imagination,  possessed 
himself  of  all  Adherbal's  dominions.  He  therefore  renewed 
hostilities,  not,  as  before,  with  a  predatory  band,  but  at  the  head 
of  a  large  army  which  he  had  collected,  and  openly  aspired  to 
the  sovereignty  of  all  Numidia.  Wherever  he  marched,  he 
ravaged  the  towns  and  the  fields,  drove  off  booty,  and  raised 
confidence  in  his  own  men  and  dismay  among  the  enemy. 

XXI.  Adherbal,  when  he  found  that  matters  had  arrived  at 
such  a  point,  that  he  must  either  abandon  his  dominions,  or 
defend  them  by  force  of  arms,  collected  an  army  from  necessity, 
and  advanced  to  meet  Jugurtha.  Both  armies  took  up89  their 
position  near  the  town  of  Cirta,90  at  no  great  distance  from  the 
sea ;  but,  as  evening  was  approaching,  encamped  without 
coming  to  an  engagement.  But  when  the  night  was  far  advanced, 
and  twilight  was  beginning  to  appear,91  the  troops  of  Jugurtha, 
at  a  given  signal,  rushed  into  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  whom 
they  routed  and  put  to  flight,  some  half  asleep  and  others 
resuming  their  arms.  Adherbal,  with  a  few  of  his  cavalry,  fled 
to  Cirta ;  and,  had  there  not  been  a  number  of  Romans95  in  the 

8»  XXI.  Both  armies  took  up,  etc.]  I  have  omitted  the  word  interim  at 
the  beginning  of  this  sentence,  as  it  would  b?  worse  than  useless  in  the 
translation.  It  signifies,  during  the  interval  Ix'fore  the  armies  came  to  an  en- 
gagement; but  this  is  sufficiently  expressed  at  the  termination  of  the  sen- 
tence. 

»°  Cirta]  Afterward  named  SiMianwum  Cf>lonia,  from  P.  Sittius  Nucerinua 
(mentioned  in  Cat.,  c.  21),  who  assisted  Caesar  in  the  African  war,  and  was 
rewarded  by  him  with  the  possession  of  this  city  and  its  lands.  It  is  now 
called  Constantino,,  from  Constantino  the  Great,  who  enlarged  and  restored 
it  when  it  had  fallen  into  decay.  Strabo  describes  it,  xvii.  3. 

111  Twilight  was  beginning  to  appear]  Olscuro  etiam  turn  lumine.  Before 
day  had  fairly  dawned. 

1)3  Romans]  Toqatorum.  Eomans,  with,  perhaps,  some  of  the  allies,  en- 
gaged in  merchandise,  or  other  peace  ;'ul  occupations,  and  therefore  wearing 
the  totja.  They  are  called  Ilalici  in  c.  26. 


THE  JUGURTIIINE  WAR.  105 

town,  who  repulsed  his  Nuinidian  pursuers  from  the  walls,  the 
war  between  the  two  princes  would  have  been  begun  and  ended 
on  the  same  day. 

Jugurtha  proceeded  to  invest  the  town,  and  attempted  to 
storm  it  with  the  aid  of  mantelets,  towers,  and  every  kind  of 
machines ;  being  anxious  above  all  things,  to  take  it  before  the 
embassadors  could  arrive  at  Rome,  who,  he  was  informed,  had 
been  dispatched  thither  by  Adherbal  before  the  battle  was 
fought.  But  as  soon  as  the  senate  heard  of  their  contention, 
three  young  men93  were  sent  as  deputies  into  Africa,  with  direc- 
tions to  go  to  both  of  the  princes,  and  to  announce  to  them,  in 
the  words  of  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome,  "  that  it  was  their 
will  and  resolution  that  they  should  lay  down  their  arms,  and 
settle  their  disputes  rather  by  arbitration  than  by  the  sword ; 
since  to  act  thus  would  be  to  the  honor  both  of  the  Romans 
and  themselves." 

XXII.  These  deputies  soon  arrived  in  Africa,  using  the 
greater  dispatch,  because,  while  they  were  preparing  for  their 
journey,  a  report  was  spread  at  Rome  of  the  battle  which  had 
been  fought,  and  of  the  siege  of  Cirta;  but  this  report  told 
much  less  than  the  truth.91  Jugurtha,  having  given  them  an 
audience,  replied,  "that  nothing  was  of  greater  weight  with 
him,  nothing  more  respected,  than  the  authority  of  the  senate ; 
that  it  had  been  his  endeavor,  from  his  youth,  to  deserve  the 
esteem  of  all  men  of  worth ;  that  he  had  gained  the  favor  of 
Publius  Scipio,  a  man  of  the  highest  eminence,  not  by  dishonor- 
able practices,  but  by  merit ;  that,  for  the  same  good  qualities, 
and  not  from  want  of  heirs  to  the  throne,  he  had  been  adopted 
by  Micipsa  ;  but  that,  the  more  honorable  and  spirited  his  con- 
duct had  been,  the  less  could  his  feelings  endure  injustice  ;  that 
Adherbal  had  formed  designs  against  his  life,  on  discovering 

93  Three  young  men]  Tree  adolescents.  Cortina  includes  these  words  in 
brackets,  regarding  them  as  the  insertion  of  some  sciolist.  But  a  sciolist, 
as  Burnouf  observes,  would  hardly  have  thought  of  inserting  ires  adoles- 
centes.  The  words  occur  in  all  the  MSS.,  and  are  pretty  well  confirmed  by 
what  is  said  below,  c.  25,  that  when  the  senate  next  sent  a  deputation,  they 
took  care  to  make  it  consist  of  majores  natu,  nob'de*.  See  on  adolescent, 
Cat.,  c.  38. 

84  XXII.  Told  much  less  than  the  truth]  Sed  is  rumor  clement  erat.  "  It 
fell  below  the  truth,  not  telling  the  whole  of  the  atrocity  that  had  been 
committed."  G-ruter.  "  Priscian  (xviii.  26)  interprets  clemens  '  non  nimius,' 
alluding  to  this  passage  of  Sallust."  Kritziw.  All  the  later  commentators 
have  adopted  this  interpretation,  except  Burnouf,  who  adopts  the  supposi- 
tion of  Ciacconius,  that  a  vague  and  uncertain  rumor  is  meant. 


1 06  SALLUST. 

which,  he  had  counteracted  his  malice  ;  that  the  Romans  would 
act  neither  justly  nor  reasonably,  if  they  withheld  from  him  the 
common  right  of  nations  ;95  and,  in  conclusion,  that  he  would 
soon  send  embassadors  to  Rome  to  explain  the  whole  of  his 
proceedings."  On  this  understanding,  both  parties  sepa- 
rated. Of  addressing  Adherbal  the  deputies  had  no  oppor- 
tunity. 

XXIII.  Jugurtha,  as  soon  as  he  thought  that  they  had  quil- 
ted Africa,  surrounded  the  walls  of  Cirta,  which,  f:om  the  i:a  u:c 
of  its  situation,  he  was  unable  to  take  by  assault,  wiih  a  ram- 
part and  a  trench  ;  he  also  erected  lowers,  and  manned  them 
with  soldiers;  he  made  attempts  on  the  place,  by  force  or  by 
stratagem,  day  and  night ;  he  held  out  bribes,  and  some  times 
menaces,  to  the  besieged ;  he  roused  his  men,  by  exhortations, 
to  efforts  of  valor,  and  resorted,  with  the  utmost  perseverance, 
to  every  possible  expedient. 

Adherbal,  on  the  other  hand,  seeing  that  his  affairs  were  in  a 
desperate  condition,  that  his  enemy  was  determined  on  his  ruin, 
that  there  was  no  hope  of  succor,  and  that  the  siege,  from  want 
of  provisions,  could  not  long  be  protracted,  selected  from  among 
those  who  had  fled  with  him  to  Cirta,  two  of  his  most  resolute 
supporters,  whom  he  induced,  by  numerous  promises,  and  an 
affecting  representation  of  his  distress,  to  make  their  way  in  the 
night,  through  the  enemy's  lines,  to  the  nearest  point  of  the 
coast,  and  from  thence  to  Rome. 

XXIV.  The  Numidians,  in  a  few  days  executed  their  com- 
mission ;  and  a  letter  from  Adherbal  was  read  in  the  senate,  of 
which  the  following  was  the  purport : 

"  It  is  not  through  my  own  fault,  Conscript  Fathers,  that  I  so 
often  send  requests  to  you ;  but  the  violence  of  Jugurtha  com- 
pels mo ;  whom  so  strong  a  desire  for  my  destruction  has 
seized,  that  he  pays  no  regard96  either  to  you  or  to  the  immortal 
gods ;  my  blood  he  covets  beyond  every  thing.  Five  months, 
in  consequence,  have  I,  the  ally  and  friend  of  the  Roman  people, 
been  besieged  with  an  armed  force  ;  neither  the  remembrance 
of  my  father  Micipsa's  benefits,  nor  your  decrees,  are  of  any 
avail  for  my  relief;  and  whether  I  am  more  closely  pressed  by 
the  sword,  or  by  famine,  I  am  unable  to  say. 

•*  Eight  of  nations]  Jure  gentmm.  "  That  is,  the  right  of  avenging  him- 
self." Rupertus. 

»•  XXIV.  Pays  no  regard]  Nequt — in  animo  habeat.  This  letter  of  Ad- 
herbal's,  both  in  matter  and  tone,  is  very  similar  to  his  speech  in  c.  14. 


THE  JUGURTIIINK  WAR.  107 

"  From  wiiting  further  concerning  Jugurtha,  my  present  con- 
dition deters  me.;  for  I  have  experienced,  even  before,07  that, 
little  credit  is  given  to  the  unfortunate.  Yet  I  can  perceive  that 
his  views  extend  further  than  to  myself,  and  that  he  does  not 
expect  to  possess,  at  the  same  time,  your  friendship  and  my 
kingdom  ;  which  of  the  two  he  thinks  the  more  desirable,  must 
be  manifest  to  every  one.  For,  in  the  first  place,  he  murdered 
my  brother  Hiempsal ;  and,  in  the  next,  expelled  me  from  my 
dominions;  which,  however,  may  be  regarded  as  our  own 
wrongs,  and  as  having  no  reference  to  you.  But  now  he  occu- 
pies your  kingdom  with  an  army ;  he  keeps  me,  whom  you 
appointed  a  king  over  the  Numidians,  in  a  state  of  blockade ; 
and  in  what  estimation  he  holds  the  words  of  your  embassa- 
dors,  my  perils  may  serve  to  show.  What  then  is  left,  except 
your  arms,  that  can  make  an  impression  upon  him  ? 

"  I  could  wish,  indeed,  that  what  I  now  write,  as  well  as  the 
complaints  which  I  lately  made  before  the  senate,  were  false, 
rather  than  that  my  present  distresses  should  confirm  the  truth 
of  my  statements.  But  since  I  am  born  to  be  an  example  of 
Jugurtha's  villainy,  I  do  not  now  beg  a  release  from  death  or 
distress,  but  only  from  the  tyranny  of  an  enemy,  and  from 
bodily  torture.  Respecting  the  kingdom  of  Numidia,  which  is 
your  own  property,  determine  as  you  please,  but  if  the  memory 
of  my  grandfather  Masinissa  is  still  cherished  by  you,  deliver  me, 
I  entreat  you,  by  the  majesty  of  your  empire,  and  by  the  sacred 
ties  of  friendship,  from  the  inhuman  hands  of  Jugurtha." 

XXV.  When  this  letter  was  read,  there  were  some  who 
thought  that  an  army  should  be  dispatched  into  Africa,  anl 
relief  afforded  to  Adherbal,  as  soon  as  possible ;  and  that  the 
senate,  in  the  mean  time,  should  give  judgment  on  the  conduct 
of  Jugurtha,  in  not  having  obeyed  the  embassadors.  But  by 
the  partisans  of  Jugurtha,  the  same  that  had  before  supported 
his  cause,  effectual  exertions  were  made  to  prevent  any  decree 
from  being  passed ;  and  thus  the  public  interest,  as  is  too  fre- 
quently the  case,  was  defeated  by  private  influence. 

An  embassy  was,  however,  dispatched  into  Africa,  consisting 
of  men  of  advanced  years,  and  of  noble  birth,  and  who  had 
filled  the  highest  offices  of  the  state  ;  among  whom  was  Marcus 
Scaurus,  already  mentioned,  a  man  who  had  held  the  consulship, 

87  T  have  experienced,  even  before]  Jam  antea  expertus  gum.  He  means, 
in  the  result  of  his  speech  to  the  senate. 


1 08  SALLUST. 

and  who  was  at  that  time  chief  of  the  senate.**  These  emb;issa- 
dors,  as  their  business  was  an  afiair  of  public  odium,  and  as  they 
were  urged  by  the  entreaties  of  the  Numidians,  embarked  in  three 
days ;  and  having  soon  arrived  at  Utica,  sent  a  letter  from  thence 
to  Jugurtha,  desiring  him  "  to  come  to  (he  province  as  quickly 
as  possible,  as  they  were  deputed  by  the  senate  to  meet  him." 

Jugurtha,  when  he  found  that  men  of  eminence,  whose  influ- 
ence at  Rome  he  knew  to  be  powerful,  were  come  to  put  a  stop 
to  his  proceedings,  was  at  first  perplexed,  and  distracted  between 
fear  and  cupidity.  He  dreaded  the  displeasure  of  the  senate, 
if  he  should  disobey  the  embassadors ;  while  his  eager  spirit, 
blinded  by  the  lust  of  power,  hurried  him  on  to  complete  the 
injustice  which  he  had  begun.  At  length  the  evil  incitements 
of  ambition  prevailed."  He  accordingly  dievv  his  army  round 
the  city  of  Cirta,  and  endeavored,  with  his  utmost  efforts,  to 
force  an  entrance ;  having  the  strongest  hopes,  that,  by  dividing 
the  attention  of  the  enemy's  troops,  he  should  be  able,  by  force 
or  artifice,  to  secure  an  opportunity  of  success.  When  his 
attempts,  however,  were  unavailing,  and  he  found  himself  una- 
ble, as  he  had  designed,  to  get  Adherbal  into  his  power  before 
he  met  the  embassadors,  fearing  that,  by  further  delay,  he 
might  irritate  Scaurus,  of  whom  he  stood  in  great  dread,  he  pro- 
ceeded with  a  small  body  of  cavalry  into  the  Province.  Yet, 
though  serious  menaces  were  repeated  to  him  in  the  name  of 
the  senate,  because  he  had  not  desisted  from  the  siege,  never- 
theless, after  spending  a  long  time  in  conference,  the  embassa- 
dors departed  without  making  any  impression  upon  him. 

XXVI.  When  news  of  this  result  was  brought  to  Cirta,  the 
Italians,1  by  whosa  exertions  the  city  had  been  defended,  and 
who  trusted  that,  if  a  surrender  were  made,  they  would  be  able, 

98  XXV.  Chief  of  the  senate]  Princep*  senatus.  "  He  whose  name  was 
first  entered  in  the  censors'  books  was  called  Princeps  Senatus,  which  titlo 
used  to  be  given  to  the  person  who  of  those  alive  had  been  censor  first 
(qui  primus  censor,  ex  iis  qui  viverent,fui8set),  but  after  the  year  544,  to  him 
whom  the  censors  thought  most  worthy,  Liv.,  xxvii.  13.  This  dignity,  al- 
though it  conferred  no  command  or  emolument,  was  esteemed  thp  very 
highest,  and  was  usually  retained  for  life,  Liv.,  xxxiv.  44 ;  xxxix.  52.  It  ia 
called  Principatus ;  and  hence  afterward  the  Emperor  was  named  Princ&ps, 
which  word  properly  denotes  rank,  and  not  power."  Adam's  Eom.  Antiq., 
p.  3. 

89  At  length  the  evil  incitements  of  ambition  prevailed]  Vicit  tamen  in 
mvido  ingenio  pravum  consilium.  "  Evil  propensities  gained  the  ascendency 
in  his  ambitious  disposition." 

'  XXVI.  The  Italians]  Ifalici.    See  c.  21. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  l,,.j 

from  respect  to  the  greatness  of  the  Roman  power,  to  csc;i]n- 
without  personal  injury,  advised  Adherbal  to  deliver  himself' 
and  the  city  to  Jugurtha,  stipulating  only  that  his  life  should  be 
spared,  and  leaving  all  other  matters  to  the  care  of  the  senate. 
Adherbal,  though  he  thought  nothing  less  trustworthy  than  the 
honor  of  Jugurtha,  yet,  knowing  that  those  who  advised  could 
also  compel  him  if  he  resisted,  surrendered  the  place  according 
to  their  desire.  Jugurtha  immediately  proceeded  to  put  Adher- 
bal to  death  with  torture,  and  massacred  all  the  inhabitants  that 
were  of  age,  whether  Numidians  or  Italians,  as  each  fell  in  the 
way  of  his  troops. 

XXVII.  When  this  outrage  was  reported  at  Rome,  and  be- 
came a  matter  of  discussion  in  the  senate,  the  former  partisans 
of  Jugurtha  applied  themselves,  by  interrupting  the  debates  and 
protracting  the  time,  sometimes  exerting  their  interest,  and 
sometimes  quarreling  with  particular  members,  to  palliate  the 
atrocity  of  the  deed.  And  had  not  Caius  Memmius,  one  of  the 
tribunes  of  the  people  elect,  a  man  of  energy,  and  hostile  to  the 
power  of  the  nobility,  convinced  the  people  of  Rome  that  an  at- 
tempt was  being  made,  by  the  agency  of  a  small  faction,  to 
have  the  crimes  of  Jugurtha  pardoned,  it  is  certain  that  the 
public  indignation  against  him  would  have  passed  off  under  the 
protraction  of  the  debates  ;  so  powerful  was  party  interest,  and 
the  influence  of  Jugurtha's  money.  When  the  senate,  however, 
from  consciousness  of  misconduct,  became  afraid  of  the  people, 
Numidia  and  Italy,  by  the  Sempronian  law,2  were  appointed  as 
provinces  to  the  succeeding  consuls,  who  were  declared  to  be 
Publius  Scipio  Nasica,3  and  Lucius  Bestia  Calpurnius.4  Numi- 

a  XXVII.  By  the  Sempronian  law]  Lege  Scmpronia.  This  was  the  Lex 
Sempronia  de  Provinciis.  In  the  early  ages  of  the  republic,  the  provinces 
were  decreed  by  the  senate  to  the  consuls  after  they  were  elected ;  but  by 
this  law,  passed  A.u.c.  631,  the  senate  fixed  on  two  provinces  for  the  future 
consuls  before  their  election  (Cic.  Pro  Dom.,  9 ;  De  Prov.  Cons.,  2),  which 
they,  after  entering  on  their  office,  divided  between  themselves  by  lot  or 
agreement.  The  law  was  passed  by  Caius  Gracchus.  See  Adam's  Rom. 
Antiq.,  p.  105. 

»  Publius  Scipio  Nasica]  "The  great-grandson  of  him  who  was  pro- 
r.onnced  by  the  senate  to  be  mr  optimus;  and  son  of  him  who4  though 
holding  no  office  at  the  time,  took  part  in  putting  to  death  Tiberius  Grac- 
chus. He  was  consul  with  Bestia,  A.U.C.  643,  and  died  in  his  consulship. 
Cic.  Brut.,  34."  Burnouf. 

4  Lucius  Bestia  Calpurnius]  "He  had  been  on  the  side  of  the  nobility 
against  the  Gracchi,  and  was  therefore  in  favor  with  the  senate.  After  his 
consulship  he  was  accused  and  condemned  by  the  Mamilian  law  (c.  40),  for 
having  received  money  from  Jugurtha,  Cic.  irut.  c.  34.  De  Brossea  thinks 


110  SALLUST. 

i}\;\  fell  to  Calpurnius,  and  Italy  to  Scipio.  An  aimy  was  then 
r.-iised  to  bo  sent  into  Africa;  and  pay,  and  all  other  necessaries 
of  war,  were  decreed  for  its  use. 

XXVIII.  When  Jugurtha  received  this  news,  which  was  ut- 
terly at  variance  with  his  expectations,  as  he  had  felt  convinced 
that  all  things  were  purchasable  at  Rome,  he  sent  his  son,  with 
two  of  his  friends,  as  deputies  to  the  senate,  and  directed  them, 
like  those  whom  he  had  sent  on  the  murder  of  Hiempsal,  to 
attack  every  body  with   bribes.     Upon  the  approach  of  these 
deputies  to  Rome,  the  senate  was  consulted  by  Bestia,  whether 
they  would  allow  them  to  be  admitted  within   the  gates  ;  and 
the  senate  decreed,  "  that,  Unless  they  came  to  surrender  Jugur- 
tha's  kingdom  and  himself,  they  must  quit  Italy  within  the  ten 
following  days."     The  consul  directed  this  decree  to  be  com- 
municated to  the  Nurnidians,  who  consequently  returned  home 
without  effecting  their  object. 

Calpurnius,  in  the  mean  time,  having  raised  an  army,  chose 
for  his  officers  men  of  family  and  intrigue,  hoping  that  what- 
ever faults  he  might  commit,  would  be  screened  by  their  influ- 
ence ;  and  among  these  was  Scaurus,  of  whose  disposition  and 
character  we  have  already  spoken.  There  were,  indeed,  in  our 
consul  Calpurnius,  many  excellent  qualities,  both  mental  and 
personal,  though  avarice  interfered  with  the  exercise  of  them ; 
lie  was  patient  of  labor,  of  a  penetrating  intellect,  of  great  fore- 
sight, not  inexperienced  in  war,  and  extremely  vigilant  against 
danger  and  surprise. 

The  troops  were  conducted  through  Italy  to  Rhegium,  from 
thence  to  Sicily,  and  from  Sicily  into  Africa ;  and  Calpurnius's 
first  step,  after  collecting  provisions,  was  to  invade  Numidia 
with  spirit,  where  he  took  many  prisoners,  and  several  towns, 
by  force  of  arms. 

XXIX.  But  when  Jugurtha  began,  through  his  emissaries, 
to  tempt  him  with  bribes,  and  to  show  the  difficulties  of  the  war 
which  he  had  undertaken  to  conduct,  his  mind,  corrupted  with 
avarice,   was   easily  altered.      His   accomplice,  however,    and 
manager  in  all  his  schemes,  was  Scaurus;  who,  though  he  had 
at  first,  when  most  of  his  party  were  corrupted,  displayed  violent 
hostility  to  Jugurtha,  yet  was  afterward  seduced,  by  a  vast  sum 
of  money,  from  integrity  and  honor  to  injustice  and   perfidy. 

that  he  was  the  grandfather  of  that  Bestia  who  was  engaged  in  the  con- 
spiracy of  Catiline."  Burnouf. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  Ill 

Jtigurtha,  however,  at  first  sought  only  to  purchase  a  suspension 
of  hostilities,  expecting  to  be  able,  during  the  interval,  to  make 
some  favorable  impression,  either  by  bribery  or  by  interest,  at 
Rome  ;  but  when  he  heard  that  Scaurus  was  co-operating  with 
Galpurnius,  he  was  elated  with  great  hopes  of  regaining  peace, 
and  resolved  upon  a  conference  with  them  in  person  respecting 
the  terms  of  it.  In  the  mean  time,  for  the.  sake  of  giving  con- 
fidence5 to  Jugurtha,  Sextus  the  quaestor  was  dispatched  by  the 
consul  to  Vaga,  one  of  the  prince's  towns ;  the  pretext  for  his 
journey  being  the  receiving  of  corn,  which  Calpurnius  had 
openly  demanded  from  Jugurtha's  emissaries,  on  the  ground 
that  a  truce  was  observed  through  their  delay  to  make  a  sur- 
render. Jugurtha  then,  as  he  had  determined,  paid  a  visit  to 
the  consul's  camp,  where,  having  made  a  short  address  to  the 
council,  respecting  the  odium  cast  upon  his  conduct,  and  his 
desire  for  a  capitulation,  he  arranged  other  matters  with  Bestia 
and  Scaurus  in  secret ;  and  the  next  day,  as  if  by  an  evident 
majority  of  voices,1  he  was  formally  allowed  to  surrender.  But, 
as  was  demanded  in  the  hearing  of  the  council,  thirty  elephants, 
a  considerable  number  of  cattle  and  horses,  and  a  small  sum  of 
money,  were  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  quaestor.  Calpur- 
nius then  returned  to  Rome  to  preside  at  the  election  of  magis- 
trates,7 and  peace  was  observed  throughout  Numidia  and  the 
Roman  army. 

XXX.  When  rumor  had  made  known  the  affairs  transacted 
in  Africa,  and  the  mode  in  which  they  had  been  brought  to 

5  XXIX.  For  the  sake  of  giving  confidence]  Fidei  causa.   "  In  order  that 
Jugurtha  might  have  confidence  in  Bestia,  Sextius  the  quasstor  was  sent  as 
a  sort  of  hostage  iuto  one  of  Jugurtha's  towns."     Cortius. 

6  As  if  bv  an  evident  majority  of  voices]  Quasi  per  saturam  exquisitis  sen- 
tentiis.     "  Tue  opinions  being  taken  in  a  confused  manner,"  or,  as  we  say, 
in  the  lump.     The  sense  manifestly  is,  that  there  was  (or  was  said  to  be) 
such  a  preponderating  majority  in  Jujjurtha's  favor,  that  it  was  not  neces- 
sary to  ask  the  opinion  of  each  individual  in  order.    Satura,  which  some 
think  to  be  always  an  adjective,  with  lanx  understood,  though  lanx,  accord- 
ing to  Scheller,  is  never  found  joined  with  it  in  ancient  authors,  was  a  plate 
filled  with  various  kinds  of  fruit,  such  as  was  annually  offered  to  the  gods. 
"  Lanx  plena  diversis  frugibus  in  templum  Cereris  inferior,  quae  satura 
nomine  appellatur,"  Acron.  ad  Hor.  Sat.,  i.  1,  init.     "  Lanx,  referta  variis 
multisque    primitiis,    sacris    Cereris  inferebatur,"   Diomed.,    iii.   p.    483. 
"  Satura,  cibi  genus  ex  variis  rebus  conditum,"  Festussubvoce.    See  Casau- 
bon.  de  Rom.  Satira,  ii.  4;  Kritzius  ad  h.  1.,  and  Scheller's  Lex.  v.,  Satur. 
In  the  Pref.  to  Justinian's  Pandects,  that  work  is  called  opus  sparsim  et 
quasi  per  saturam  coUectum,  utile  cum  inutilibus  mixtim. 

7  To  preside  at  the  election  of  magistrates]  Ad  mar/istrabus  rogandos.  The 
presiding  magistrate  had  to  ask  the  consent  of  the  people,  sayiirg  Velitis, 
jubeatis — rogo  Quirites. 


112  S  A  I, LUST. 

pass,  the  conduct  of  the  consul  became  n,  subject  of  discussion 
in  every  place  and  company  at  Rome.  Among  the  people 
there  was  violent  indignation ;  as  to  the  senators,  -whether  they 
would  ratify  so  flagitious  a  proceeding,  or  annul  the  act  of  the 
consul,  was  a  matter  of  douht.  The  influence  of  Scaurus,  as 
he  was  said  to  be  the  supporter  and  accomplice  of  Bestia,  was 
what  chiefly  restrained  the  senate  from  acting  with  justice  and 
honor.  But  Caius  Memmius,  of  whose  boldness  of  spirit,  and 
hatred  to  the  power  of  the  nobility,  I  have  already  spoken, 
excited  the  people  by  his  harangues,  during  the  perplexity  and 
delay  of  the  senators,  to  take  vengeance  on  the  authors  of  the 
treaty ;  he  exhorted  them  not  to  abandon  the  public  interest 
or  their  own  liberty ;  he  set  before  them  the  many  tyrannical 
and  violent  proceedings  of  the  nobles,  and  omitted  no  art 
to  inflame  the  popular  passions.  But  as  the  eloquence  of 
Memmius,  at  that  period,  had  great  reputation  and  influence 
I  have  thought  proper  to  give  in  full8  one  out  of  many  of  his 
speeches ;  and  I  take,  in  preference  to  others,  that  which  he 
delivered  in  the  assembly  of  the  people,  after  the  return  of 
Bestia,  in  words  to  the  following  effect : 

XXXI.  "  Were  not  my  zeal  for  the  good  of  the  state,  my 
fellow-citizens,  superior  to  every  other  feeling,  there  are  many 
considerations  which  would  deter  me  from  appearing  in  your 
cause  ;  I  allude  to  the  power  of  the  opposite  party,  your  own 
tameness  of  spirit,  the  absence  of  all  justice,  and,  above  all,  the 
fact  that  integrity  is  attended  with  more  danger  than  honor. 
Indeed,  it  grieves  me  to  relate,  how,  during  the  last  fifteen 
years,9  you  have  been  a  sport  to  the  arrogance  of  an  oligarchy  ; 
how  dishonorably,  and  how  utterly  unavenged,  your  defenders 

«  XXX.  To  give  in  full]  Perscribere.  "  To  write  at  length."  The  reader 
might  suppose,  at  first,  that  Sallust  transcribed  this  speccli  from  some  pub^ 
licatipn  ;  but  in  that  case,  as  Burnouf  observes,  lie  would  rather  have  said 
txscribere.  Besides,  the  following  Jivj uscemodi  shows  that  Sallust  did  not  pro- 
fess to  give  the  exact  words  of  Memmius.  And  the  speech  is  throughout 
marked  with  Sallustian  phraseology.  "The  commencement  of  it,  there  is 
little  doubt,  is  imitated  from  Cato,  of  whose  speech  De  Lusitanis  the  follow- 
ing fragment  is  extant  in  Aul.  Gell.  xiii.  24  :  Multa  me  dehortata  snnt  hue 
prodire,  anni,  cetag,  vox  vires,  senectus.'1'1  Kritzius. 

9  XXXI.  During  the  last  fifteen  years]  Ifix  annis  quindccim.  "Itwasut 
this  time,  A.U.C.  641,  twenty-two  years  since  the  death  of  Tiberius  Grac- 
chus, and.  ten  since  that  of  Caius  ;  Sallust,  or  Memmius.not  to  appear  to 
make  too  nice  a  computation,  takes  a  mean."  Burnouf.  The  manuscripts, 
however,  vary ;  some  read  fifteen,  and  others  twelve,  Cortius^conjccturcd 
twenty,  aa  a  rounder  number,  which  Kritzius  and  Dietsch  have  inserred  in, 
their  texts.  Twenty  is  also  found  in  the  E-iitio  v^ictoriana,  Florence,  157G. 


THK  JUCURT1IIXK   \VAR.  UH 

have  perished  ;10  and  liow  your  spirit  lias  become  degeneiale 
by  sloth  and  indolence  ;  for  not  even  now,  when  your  enemies 
are  in  your  power,  will  you  rouse  yourselves  to  action,  but  con- 
tinue still  to  stand  in  awe  of  those  to  whom  you  should  be  a. 
terror. 

"  Yet,  notwithstanding  this  state  of  tilings,  I  feel  prompted 
to  make  an  attack  on  the  power  of  that  faction.  That  liberty 
of  speech,"  therefore,  which  has  been  left  me  by  my  father, 
I  shall  assuredly  exert  against  them ;  but  whether  I  shall  use 
it  in  vain,  or  for  your  advantage,  must,  my  fellow-citizens,  de- 
pend upon  yourselves.  I  do  not,  hoAvever,  exhort  you,  as  your 
ancestors  have  often  done,  to  rise  in  arms  against  injustice. 
There  is  at  present  no  need  of  violence,  no  need  of  seces- 
sion ;  for  your  tyrants  must  work  their  fall  by  their  own  mis- 
conduct. 

"  After  the  murder  of  Tiberius  Gracchus,  whom  they  accused 
of  aspiring  to  be  king,  persecutions  were  instituted  against  the 
common  people  of  Rome;  and  after  the  slaughter  of  Caius 
Gracchus  and  Marcus  Fulvius,  many  of  your  order  were  put 
to  death  in  prison.  But  let  us  leave  these  proceedings  out  of 
the  question ;  let  us  admit  that  to  restore  their  rights  to  the 
people,  was  to  aspire  to  sovereignty ;  let  us  allow  that  what 
can  not  be  avenged  without  shedding  the  blood  of  citizens,  was 
done  with  justice.  You  have  seen  with  silent  indignation, 
however,  in  past  years,  the  treasury  pillaged ;  you  have  seen 
kings,  and  free  people,  paying  tribute  to  a  small  party  of  Pa- 
tricians, in  whose  hands  were  both  the  highest  honors  and  the 
greatest  wealth  ;  but  to  have  carried  on  such  proceedings  with 
impunity,  they  now  deem  but  a  small  matter ;  and,  at  last, 
your  laws  and  your  honor,  with  every  civil  and  religious 
obligation,12  have  been  sacrificed  for  the  benefit  of  your 
enemies.  Nor  do  they,  who  have  done  these  things,  show 
either  shame  or  contrition,  but  parade  proudly  before  your 

10  Your  defenders  have  perished]  Perierint  vestri  defensores.    Tiberius 
and  Caius  Gracchus,  and  their  adherents. 

11  Liberty  of  speech]   Litertatem.     Liberty   of  speech  is  evidently  in- 
tended. 

13  Every  civil  and  religions  obligation]  Divina  «t  humana  omnia.  "  They 
offended  against  the  laws,  when  they  took  bribes  from  an  enemy  ;  agains't 
the  honor  of  Rome,  when  they  did  what  was  unworthy  of  it,  and  greatly  to 
its  injury;  and  against  gods  and  men,  against  all  divine  and  Vmniah  obhgs- 
tions,  when  they  granted  to  a  wicked  prince  not  onlj  impunity,  but  ev^u 
rewards,  for  his  crimes."  Dletsch. 


114  SALLUST. 

faces,  displaying  their  sacerdotal  dignities,  their  consulships, 
and  some  of  them  their  triumphs,  as  if  they  regarded  them  as 
marks  of  honor,  and  not  as  fruits  of  their  dishonesty.  Slaves, 
purchased  with  money,13  will  not  submit  to  unjust  commands 
from  their  masters ;  yet  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  who  are  born 
to  empire,  tamely  endure  oppression. 

"  But  who  are  these  that  have  thus  taken  the  government 
into  their  hands  1  Men  of  the  most  abandoned  character,  of 
blood-stained  hands,  of  insatiable  avarice,  of  enormous  guilt, 
and  of  matchless  pride ;  men  by  whom  integrity,  reputation, 
public  spirit,14  and  indeed  every  thing,  whether  honorable  or 
dishonorable,  is  converted  to  a  means  of  gain.  Some  of  them 
make  it  their  defense  that  they  have  killed  tribunes  of  the 
people  ;  others,  that  they  have  instituted  unjust  prosecutions  ; 
others,  that  they  have  shed  your  blood ;  and  thus,  the  more 
atrocities  each  has  committed,  the  greater  is  his  security ; 
while  your  oppressors,  whom  the  same  desires,  the  same  aver- 
sions, and  the  same  fears,  combine  in  strict  union  (a  union 
which  among  good  men  is  friendship,  but  among  the  bad  con- 
fe  leracy  in  guilt),  have  excited  in  you,  through  your  want 
of  spirit,  that  terror  which  they  ought  to  feel  for  their  own 
crimes. 

"  But  if  your  concern  to  preserve  your  liberty  were  as  great 
a^  their  ardor  to  increase  their  power  of  oppression,  the  state 
would  not  be  distracted  as  it  is  at  present;  and  the  marks  of 
favor  which  proceed  from  you,15  would  be  conferred,  not  on  the 
most  shameless,  but  on  the  most  deserving.  Your  forefathers, 
in  order  to  assert  their  rights  and  establish  their  authority, 
twice  seceded  in  arms  to  Mount  Aventine  ;  and  will  not  you 
exert  yourselves,  to  the  utmost  of  your  power,  in  defense  of  that 
liberty  which  you  received  from  them  ?  Will  you  not  display 

13  Slaves  purchased  with  money,  etc.]  Servi,  CEreparati,  etc.  This  is  taken 
from  another  speech  of  Cato,  of  which  a  portion  is  preserved  in  Aul.  Gcll. 
x.  3  :  Servi  inj arias  minis  cegreferunt  ;  quid  illos  bono  f/enerenato*,  magrul 
virtute  prceditvH,  animi  habuisse  atque  habituros,  dvm  mventf    "Slaves  are 
apt  to  be  too   impatient  of  injuries ;  and  what  feelings  do  you  think  that 
men  of  good   family,  and  of  great  merit,  must  have  had,  and  will  have  as 
long  as  they  live  ?" 

14  Public  spirit]  Pietas.    Under  this  word  are  included  all  duties  that  we 
ought  to  perform  to  those  with  whom  we  are  intimately  connected,  or  on 
whom  we  are  dependent,  as  our  parents,  our  country,  and  the  gods.  I  have 
borrowed  my  translation  of  the  word  from  Rose. 

i*  The  marks  of  favor  which  proceed  from  you]  Berwficia  vestra.  Offices 
of  state,  civil  and  military. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  115 

*o  much  the  more  spirit  in  the  cause,  from  the  reflection  that 
it  is  a  greater  disgrace  to  lose16  what  has  been  gained,  than  not 
to  have  gained  it  at  all  ? 

"But  some  will  ask  me,  'What  course  of  conduct,  then, 
would  you  advise  us  to  pursue  ?'  I  would  advise  you  to  inflict 
punishment  on  those  who  have  sacrificed  the  interests  of  their 
country  to  the  enemy ;  not,  indeed,  by  arms,  or  any  violence 
(which  would  be  more  unbecoming,  however,  for  you  to  inflict 
than  for  them  to  suffer),  but  by  prosecutions,  and  by  the  evi- 
dence of  Jugurtha  himself,  who,  if  he  has  really  surrendered, 
will  doubtless  obey  your  summons  ;  whereas,  if  he  shows  con- 
tempt for  it,  you  will  at  once  judge  what  sort  of  a  peace  or  sui-- 
render  it  is,  from  which  springs  impunity  to  Jugurtha  for  his 
crimes,  immense  wealth  to  a  few  men  in  power,  and  loss  and 
infamy  to  the  republic. 

"  But  perhaps  you  are  not  yetAveary  of  the  tyranny  of  these  men; 
perhaps  these  times  please  you  less  than  those"  when  kingdoms, 
provinces,  laws,  rights,  the  administration  of  justice,  war  and 
peace,  and  indeed  every  thing  civil  and  religious,  was  in  the 
hands  of  an  oligarchy  ;  while  you,  that  is,  the  people  of  Rome, 
though  tinconquered  by  foreign  enemies,  and  rulers  of  all  nations 
around,  were  content  with  being  allowed  to  live ;  for  which  of 
you  had  spirit  to  throw  off  your  slavery?  For  myself,  indeed, 
though  I  think  it  most  disgraceful  to  receive  an  injury  without 
resenting  it,  yet  I  could  easily  allow  you  to  pardon  these  basest 
of  traitors,  because  they  are  your  fellow-citizens,  were  it  not  cer- 
tain that  your  indulgence  would  end  in  your  destruction.  For 
such  is  their  presumption,  that  to  escape  punishment  for  their 
misdeeds  will  have  but  little  effect  upon  them,  unless  they  be 
deprived,  at  the  same  time,  of  the  power  of  doing  mischief; 
and  endless  anxiety  will  remain  for  you,  if  you  shall  have  to 
reflect  that  you  must  either  be  slaves  or  preserve  your  liberty  by 
force  of  arms. 

"  Of  mutual  trust,  or  concord,  what  hope  is  there  ?  They 
wish  to  be  lords,  you  desire  to  be  free ;  they  seek  to  inflict  in- 

1(1  A  greater  disgrace  to  lose,  etc.]  Quod  majus  dedecus  estparta  amitere 
qn.am  omnino  non paravisse.  'Aiaxiov  6e  t^ovraf  u<]>aip£d/'/vai  f]  KTupevov? 
drv^i'-ciL.  Thucyd.  ii.  62. 

17  Them  times  please  you  less  than  those,  etc.]  Ilia  quam  time  tempora 
maffie  pfacent,  etc.  "  Those  times,  which  immediately  succeeded  the  deaths 
of  the  Gracchi,  and  which  were  distinguished  for  the  tyranny  of  the  nobles, 
and  the  humiliation  of  the  people ;  these  timc-s,  in  wh'ich  the  people  have 
begun  to  rouse  their  spirit  und  exert  their  liberty."  Burn&uf. 


116  SALLUST. 

jury,  you  to  repel  it;  they  treat  your  allies  as  enemies,  your 
enemies  as  allies.  With  feelings  so  opposite,  can  peace  or 
friendship  subsist  between  you  ?  I  warn,  therefore,  and  exhort 
you,  not  to  allow  such  enormous  dishonesty  to  go  unpunished. 
It  is  not  an  embezzlement  of  the  public  money18  that  has  been 
committed  ;  nor  is  it  a  forcible  extortion  of  money  from  your 
allies;  offenses  which,  though  great,  are  now,  from  their  fre- 
quency, considered  as  nothing;  but  the  authority  of  the  senate, 
and  your  own  power,  have  been  sacrificed  to  the  bitterest  of 
enemies,  and  the  public  interest  has  been  betrayed  for  money, 
both  at  home  and  abroad  ;  and  unless  these  misdeeds  be  inves- 
tigated, and  punishment  be  inflicted  on  the  guilty,  what  remains 
for  us  but  to  live  the  slaves  of  those  who  committed  them  ? 
For  those  who  do  what  they  will  with  impunity  are  undoubt- 
edly kings.19 

"  I  do  not,  however,  wish  to  encourage  you,  O  Romans,  to  be 
better  satisfied  at  finding  your  fellow-citizens  guilty  than  inno- 
cent, but  merely  to  warn  you  not  to  bring  ruin  on  the  good,  by 
suffering  the  bad  to  escape.  It  is  far  better,  in  any  government, 
to  be  unmindful  of  a  service  than  of  an  injury  ;  for  a  good  man, 
if  neglected,  only  becomes  less  active ;  but  a  bad  man,  more 
daring.  Besides,  if  the  crimes  of  the  wicked  are  suppressed,20 
the  state  will  seldom  need  extraordinary  support  from  the 
virtuous." 

XXXII.  By  repeating  these  and  similar  sentiments,  Mem- 
mius  prevailed  on  the  people  to  send  Lucius  Cassius,21  who  was 

18  Embezzlement  of  the  public  money]  Peculcitux  cerarii.  Peculator,  qui 
furtum  facit  pecuniaj  public-Be."  Ascon.  Pedian.  in  Cic.  Verr.  i. 

18  Kings]  1  have  substituted  the  plural  for  the  singular.  "  No  name  was 
more  hated  at  Rome  than  that  of  a  king  ;  and  no  sentiment,  accordingly, 
could  have  been  better  adapted  to  inflame  the  minds  of  Memmius's  hearers, 
than  that  which  he  here  utters."  Dietsch. 

20  If  the  crimes  of  the  wicked  are  suppressed,  etc.]  Si  injuries  non  sint, 
Jiaud  scepe  auxilii  etjeas.  "  Some  foolishly  interpret  at/xilium  as  signifying 
auxilium  tribunicinm,  the  aid  of  the  tribunes  ;  but  it  is  evident  to  me  that 
Sallust  means  aid  against  the  injuries  of  bad  men,  i.  e.  revenge  or  punish- 
ment." Kritzlus.  "If  injuries  are  repressed,  or  prevented,  there  will  be 
less  need  for  the  help  of  good  men,  and  it  will  be  of  less  consequence  if 
they  become  inactive."  Die/sch. 

31  XXXII.  Lucius  Cassius]  This  is  the  man  from  whom  came  the  com- 
mon saying  cvi  bonof  "  Lucius  Cassius,  whom  the  Roman  people  thought 
the  most  accurate  and  wisest  of  judges,  was  accustomed  constantly  to  in- 
quire, in  the  progress  of  a  cause,  cui  bono  fuisset,  of  what  advantage  any 
thing  had  been."  Cic.  pro  Rose.  Am.  30.  '  "  His  tribunal,"  says  Valerius 
Maximus  (iii.  7),  "  was  called,  from  his  excessive  severity,  the  rock  of  the 
accused."  It  was  probably  on  account  of  this  quality  in  his  character  that 
he  was  now  sent  into  Numidia. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  117 

then  prsetor,  to  Jugurtha,  and  to  bring  him,  under  guarantee 
of  the  public  faith,"  to  Rome,  in  order  that,  by  the  prince's 
evidence,  the  misconduct  of  Scaurus  and  the  rest,  whom  they 
charged  with  having  taken  bribes,  might  more  easily  be  made 
manifest. 

During  the  course  of  these  proceedings  fit  Rome,  those  whom 
Bestia  had  left  in  Numidia  in  command  of  the  army,  following 
the  example  of  their  general,  had  been  guilty  of  many  scan- 
dalous transactions.  Some,  seduced  by  gold,  had  restored 
Jugurtha  his  elephants ;  others  had  sold  him  his  deserters ; 
others  had  ravaged  the  lands  of  those  at  peace  with  us ;  so 
strong  a  spirit  of  rapacity,  like  the  contagion  of  a  pestilence, 
had  pervaded  the  breasts  of  all. 

Cassius,  when  the  measure  proposed  by  Memmius  had  been 
carried,  and  while  all  the  nobility  were  in  consternation,  set  out 
on  his  mission  to  Jugurtha,  whom,  alarmed  as  he  was,  and  des- 
pairing of  his  fortune,  from  a  sense  of  guilt,  he  admonished 
"  that  since  he  had  surrendered  himself  to  the  Romans,  he  had 
better  make  trial  of  their  mercy  than  their  power."  He  also 
pledged  his  own  word,  which  Jugurtha  valued  not  less  than  that 
of  the  public,  for  his  safety.  Such,  at  that  period,  was  the 
reputation  of  Cassius. 

XXXIII.  Jugurtha,  accordingly,  accompanied  Cassius  to 
Rome,  but  without  any  mark  of  royalty,  and  in  the  garb,  as 
much  as  possible,  of  a  suppliant ;"  and,  though  he  felt  great 
confidence  on  his  own  part,  and  was  supported  by  all  those 
through  whose  power  or  villainy  he  had  accomplished  his  pro- 
jects, he  purchased,  by  a  vast  bribe,  the  aid  of  Caius  Bsebius, 
a  tribune  of  the  people,  by  whose  audacity  he  hoped  to  be  pro- 
tected against  the  law,  and  against  all  harm. 

An  assembly  of  the  people  being  convoked,  Memmius 
although  they  were  violently  exasperated  against  Jugurtha, 
(some  demanding  that  he  should  be  cast  ^nto  prison,  others 
that,  unless  he  should  name  his  accomplices  in  guilt,  he  should 
be  put  to  death,  according  to  the  usage  of  their  ancestors,  as  a 
public  enemy),  yet,  regarding  rather  their  character  than  their 

M  Under  guarantee  of  the  public  faith]  Inlerposita,  fide publica.  See  Cat. 
47,  48.  £o  a  little  below,  Jidem  suam  interponit.  Interp&no  is  "  to  pledge." 

23  XXXIII.  In  the  garb,  as  much  as  possible,  of  a  suppliant]  C'uUu  tjnittn 
maximk  miterahili.  "  In  such  a  crarb  as  accused  persons,  or  suppliants, 
were  accustomed  to  adopt,  when  they  wished  to  excite  compassion,  putting 
on  a  mean  dress,  and  allowing  their  hair  and  beard  to  grow."  Uui'not'f. 


118  SALLUST. 

resentment,  endeavored  to  calm  their  turbulence  and  mitigate 
their  rage  ;  and  assured  them  that,  as  far  as  depended  on  him, 
the  public  faith  should  not  be  broken.  At  length,  when  silence 
was  obtained,  he  brought  forward  Jugurtba,  and  addressed  them. 
He  detailed  the  misdeeds  of  Jugurtha  at  Rome  and  in  Numidia, 
and  set  forth  his  crimes  toward  his  father  and  brothers ;  and 
admonished  the  prince,  "  that  the  Roman  people,  though  they 
were  well  aware  by  whose  support  and  agency  he  had  acted, 
yet  desired,  further  testimony  from  himself;  that,  if  he  dis- 
closed the  truth,  there  was  great  hope  for  him  iu  the  honor  and 
clemency  of  the  Romans  ;  but  if  he  concealed  it,  he  would  cer- 
tainly not  save  his  accomplices,  but  ruin  himself  and  his  hopes 
forever." 

XXXIV.  But  when  Memmius  had  concluded  his  speech,  and 
Jugurtha  was  expected  to  give  his  answer,  Caius  Baebius,  the 
tribune  of  the  people,  whom  I  have  just  noticed  as  having  been 
bribed,  enjoined  the  prince  to  hold  his  peace  ;21  and  though  the 
multitude,  who  formed  the  assembly,  were  desperately  enraged, 
and  endeavored  to  terrify  the  tribune  by  outcries,  by  angry 
looks,  by  violent  gestures,  and  by  every  other  act  to  which 
nnger  prompts,25  his  audacity  was  at  last  triumphant.  The 

24  XXXIV.  Enjoined  the  prince  to  hold  his  peace]  A  single  tribune 
might,  by  such  intervention,  offer  an  effectual  opposition  to  almost  any  pro- 
ceeding.  On  the  great  power  of  the  tribunes,  see  Adam's  Bom.  Ant.,  under 
the  head  "  Tribunes  or  the  People." 

25  Every  other  act  to  which  anger  prompts]  Aliis  omnibus,  qu<e  ira  fieri 
amat.     "'.These  words  have  given  rise  to  wonderful  hallucinations;   for 
Quintilian,  ix.  3.  17,  having  observed  that  many  expressions  of  Snllust  are 
borrowed  from  the  Greek,  as  Vvlgns  amat  fieri,  all  interpreters,  from  Cor- 
tius  downward,  have  thought  that  the  structure  of  Sallust's  words  must  be 
Greek,  and  have  taken  ira.  in  this  passage,  for  an  ablative,  and  q-u<K  for  a 
nominative  plural.     Gerlacn  has  even  gone  so  far  as  to  take  liberties  with 
the  words  cited  by  Quintilian,  and  to  correct  them,  please  the  gods,  into 
quce  in  vulgus  amat  fieri.     But  how  could  there  have  been  such  want  of  pen- 
etration in  learned  critics,  such  deficiency  in  the  knowledge  of  the  two 
languages,  that,  when  the  imitation  of  the  Greek,  noticed  by  Quintilian,  has 
reference  merely  to  the  word  dtfai,  amat,  they  should  think  of  extending  it 
to  the  dependence  of  a  singular  verb  on  a  neuter  plural  ?    "With  truth,  in- 
deed, though  with  much  simplicity,  does  Gerlach  observe,  that  you  will  in 
vain  seek  for  instances  of  this  mode  of  expression  in  other  writers."    Krit- 
z'ms.    Dietsch  agrees  with  Kritzius  ;  and  there  will,  I  hope,  be  no  further 
doubt  that  quae  is  the  accusative  and  ira  the  nominative  ;  the  sense  being, 
"  which  anger  loves  or  desires  to  be  done."     Another  mode  of  explana- 
tion has  been  suggested,  namely,  to  understand  multitude)  as  the  nominative 
case  to  amat,  making  ira  the  ablative  ;  but  this  method  is  far  more  cumber- 
some, and  less  in  accordance  with  the  style  of  Sallust.    The  words  quoted 
by  Quintilian  do  not  refer,  as  Cortius  erroneously  supposes,  to  t'.ii.s  passage, 
but  to  some  part  of  Sullust's  works  that  is  now  lost. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  119 

people,  mocked  and  set  at  naught,  withdrew  from  the  place  of 
assembly ;  and  the  confidence  of  Jugurtha,  Bestia,  and  the 
others,  whom  this  investigation  had  alarmed,  was  greatly  aug- 
mented. 

XXXV.  There  was  at  this  period  in  Rome  a  certain  Numid- 
irm  named  Massiva,  a  son  of  Gulussa  and  grandson  of  Masin- 
issa,  who,  from  having  been,  in  the  dissensions  among  the 
princes,  opposed  to  Jugurtha,  had  been  obliged,  after  the  sur- 
render of  Cirta  and  the  murder  of  Adherbal,  to  make  his  escape 
out  of  Africa.  Spurius  Albinus,  who  was  consul  with  Quintus 
Minucius  Rufus  the  year  after  Bestia,  prevailed  upon  this  man, 
as  he  was  of  the  family  of  Masinissa,  and  as  odium  and  teiTor 
hung  over  Jugurtha  for  his  crimes,  to  petition  the  senate  for 
the  kingdom  of  Numidia.  Albinus,  being  eager  for  the  conduct 
of  a  war,  was  desirous  that  affairs  should  be  disturbed,26  rather 
than  sink  into  tranquillity ;  especially  as,  in  the  division  of  the 
provinces,  Numidia  had  fallen  to  himself,  and  Macedonia  to 
Minucius. 

When  Massiva  proceeded  to  carry  these  suggestions  into  exe- 
cution, Jugurtha,  finding  that  he  had  no  sufficient  support  in  his 
friends,  as  a  sense  of  guilt  deterred  some,  and  evil  report  or 
timidity  others,  from  coming  forward  in  his  behalf,  directed 
Bomilcar,  his  most  attached  and  faithful  adherent,  to  procure 
by  the  aid  of  money,  by  which  he  had  already  effected  so 
much,  assassins  to  kill  Massiva ;  and  to  do  it  secretly  if  he 
could ;  but,  if  secrecy  should  be  impossible,  to  cut  him  off  in 
any  way  whatsoever.  This  commission  Bomilcar  soon  found 
means  to  execute ;  and,  by  the  agency  of  men  versed  in  such 
service,  ascertained  the  direction  of  his  journeys,  his  hours  of 
leaving  home,  and  the  times  at  which  he  resorted  to  particular 
places,27  and,  when  all  was  ready,  placed  his  assassins  in  ambush. 
One  of  their  number  sprung  upon  Massiva,  though  with  too  lit- 
tle caution,  and  killed  him  ;  but  being  himself  caught,  he  made, 
at  the  instigation  of  many,  and  especially  of  Albinus  the  con- 
sul, a  full  confession.  Bomilcar  was  accordingly  committed  for 
•trial,  though  rather  on  the  principles  of  reason  and  justice  than 

M  XXXV.  Should  be  disturbed]  Movere  is  the  reading  of  Cortins  ;  moveri 
that  of  most  other  editors,  in  conformity  with  most  of  the  MSS.  and  early 
editions. 

w  The  times  at  which  he  resorted  to  particular  places]  Loca  atque  tempera 
cuncfa.  "  All  his  places  and  times."  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  tuusu 
is  what  I  have  given  in  the  text. 


120  SALLUST. 

in  accordance  with  the  law  of  nations,28  as  he  was  in  the  retinue 
of  one  who  had  come  to  Rome  on  a  pledge  of  the  public  faith 
for  his  safety.  But  Jugurtha,  though  clearly  guilty  of  the 
crime,  did  not  cease  to  struggle  against  the  truth,  until  he  per- 
ceived that  the  infamy  of  the  deed  was  too  strong  for  his  inter- 
est or  his  money.  For  which  reason,  although,  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  proceedings,29  he  had  given  fifty  of  his  friends 
as  bail  for  Bomilcar,  yet,  thinking  more  of  his  kingdom  than 
of  the  sureties,  he  sent  him  off  privately  into  Numidia ;  for  he 
feared  that  if  such  a  man  should  be  executed,  his  other  subjects 
would  be  deterred  from  obeying  him.30  A  few  days  after,  ho 
himself  departed,  having  been  ordered  by  the  senate  to  quit 
Italy.  But,  as  he  was  going  from  Rome,  he  is  said,  after  fre- 
quently looking  back  on  it  in  silence,  to  have  at  last  exclaimed, 
"That  it  v  as  a  venal  city,  and  would  soon  perish,  if  it  could 
but  find  a  purchaser  !"31 

XXXVI.  The  war  being  now  renewed,  Albinus  hastened  to 
transport  provisions,  money,  and  other  things  necessary  for  the 
army,  into  Africa,  whither  he  himself  soon  followed,  with  the 
hope  that,  before  the  time  of  the  comitia,  which  was  not  far 
distant,  he  might  be  able,  by  an  engagement,  by  capitulation, 
or  by  some  other  method,  to  bring  the  contest  to  a  conclusion. 

f  In  accordance  with  the  law  of  nations,  etc.]  As  the  public  faith  had 
been  pledged  to  Jugurtha  for  his  security,  his  retinue  was  on  the  same  foot- 
ing as  that  of  embassadors,  the  persons  of  whose  attendants  are  considered 
as  inviolable  as  their  own,  as  long  as  they  commit  no  offense  against  the 
Jaws  of  the  country  in  which  they  are  resident.  If  any  such  offense  is  com- 
mitted by  an  attendant  of  an  embassador,  an  application  is  usually  made  by 
the  government  to  the  ernbassador  to  deliver  him  up  for  trial.  Bomilcar 
seems  to  have  been  apprehended  without  any  application  having  been  made 
to  Jugurtha;  as,  in  our  own  country,  the  Portuguese  embassador's  brother, 
who  was  one  of  his  retinue,  was  apprehended  and  executed  for  a  murder, 
by  Oliver  Cromwell  See,  on  this  point,  Grotius  De  Jure  Bell,  et  Pac.,  xviii. 
8 ;  Vattel,  iv.  9 ;  Burlamaqui  on  Politic  Law,  part  iv.  ch.  15.  Jugurtha, 
says  Vattel,  should  have  given  up  Bomilcar;  but  such  was  not  Jugurtha's 
object. 

*«  At  the  commencement  of  the  proceedings]  In  priori  actione.  That  is, 
•when  Bomilcar  wad  apprehended  and  charged  with  the  murder. 

311  His  other  subjects  would  bo  deterred  from  obeying  him]  Rellquox pnp- 
ijlarix  metut  ini-udtnt  pnrendl  sibl.  "  Fear  of  obeying  him  should  take  pos- 
session of  his  other  subjects." 

31  That  it  was  a  venal  city,  etc  J  Urbtm  tfnaleni,  etc.  I  consider,  with 
Cortius,  that  this  is  the  proper  way  of  taking  these  words.  Some  would 
lender  them  O  iena.1  city,  etc.,  hecause  Livy,  Epit.  Ixiv.,  has  O  urbtm  ven<b- 
lem,  but  this  seems  to  require  that  the  verb  should  be  in  the  second  persoii ; 
and  it  is  probable  that  in  Livy  we  should  either  eject  the  0  or  read  inveneris. 
Florus,  in.  1,  gives  the  words  in  the  same  way  as  Sallust. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  121 

Jugurtha,  on  the  other  hand,  tried  every  means  of  protracting 
(lie  war,  continually  inventing  new  causes  for  delay ;  at  one 
time  he  promised  to  surrender,  at  another  he  feigned  distrust ; 
he  retreated  when  Albinus  attacked  him,  and  then,  lest  his  men 
should  lose  courage,  attacked  in  return,  and  thus  amused  the 
consul  with  alternate  procrastinations  of  war  and  of  peace. 

There  were  some,  at  that  time,  who  thought  that  Albinus  un- 
derstood Jugurtha's  object,  and  who  believed  that  so  ready  a 
protraction  of  the  war,  after  so  much  haste  at  the  commence- 
ment, was  to  be  attributed  less  to  tardiness  than  to  treachery. 
However  this  might  be,  Albinus,  when  time  passed  on,  and  the 
day  of  the  comitia  approached,  left  his  brother  Aulus  in  the 
camp  as  propraetor,32  and  returned  to  Rome. 

XXXVII.  The  republic,  at  this  time  was  grievously  dis- 
tracted by  the  contentions  of  the  tribunes.  Two  of  them,  Pub- 
lius  Lucullus  and  Lucius  Annius,  were  struggling  against  the 
will  of  their  colleagues,  to  prolong  their  term  of  office  ;  and  this 
dispute  put  off  the  comitia  throughout  the  year.33  In  conse- 
quence of  this  delay,  Aulus,  who,  as  I  have  just  said,  was  left  as 
propraetor  in  the  camp,  conceiving  hopes  either  of  finishing  the 
war,  or  of  extorting  money  from  Jtigurtha  by  the  terror  of  his 
army,  drew  out  his  troops  in  the  month  of  January,  from  their 
winter-quarters  into  the  field,  and  by  forced  inarches,  during 
severe  weather,  made  his  way  to  the  town  of  Suthul,  where  Ju- 
gurtha's treasures  were  deposited.  And  though  this  place, 
both  from  the  inclemency  of  the  season,  and  from  its  advantage- 
ous situation,  could  neither  be  taken  nor  besieged  ;  for  around 
its  walls,  which  were  built  on  the  edge  of  a  steep  hill,34  a  marshy 
plain,  flooded  by  the  ruins  of  winter,  had  been  converted  into 
a  lake  ;  yet  Aulus,  either  as  a  feint  to  strike  terror  into  Jugur- 

3i  XXXVI.  As  propraetor]  Pro  jjrcetore.  "With  the  power  of  lieutenant- 
general. 

--  XXXVII.  Throughout  the  year]  Totius  anni.  That  is,  all  tiiat  remained 
of  the  year. 

31  On  the  edge  of  a  steep  hill]  In,  prceruptl  montls  (xtremo.  "  In,  extremo  a 
scholiast  rightly  interprets  in  margine,"  Gerlach.  Cortius,  whom  Lansrius 
follows,  considers  that  in  extreme  means  at  the  bottom:  a  notion  which  Krit- 
z'jiis  justly  condemns;  for,  as  Gerlach  asks,  what  would  that  have  to  do  with 
the  strength  of  the  place  {  Midler  would  have  us  believe  that  in  extremo 
jneans  at  the  top ;  but  if  Sallust  had  meant  to  say  that  the  city  -was  at  the 
top,  he  would  hardly  have  chosen  the  word  extremus  for  the  purpose. 
Doubtless,  as  Gerlach  observes,  the  city  was  on  the  top  of  the  hill,  which 
was  broad  enough  to  hold  it;  but  tiro  words  in  extreino  signify  that  the 
w:iils  were  even  with  the  side  of  the  hill.  Of  tho  site  of  the  town  of 
oiit!iul  no  Ir.n.x6  are  now  to  be  found. 


122  SALLUST. 

tha,  or  blinded  by  avarice,  began  to  move  forward  his  vine*,51 
to  cast  up  a  rampart,  and  to  hasten  all  necessary  preparation 
for  a  siege. 

XXXVIII.  Jugurtha,  seeing  the  propraetor's  vanity  and  ig- 
norance, artfully  strengthened  his  infatuation  ;  he  sent  him, 
from  time  to  time,  deputies  with  submissive  messages,  while  he 
himself,  as  if  desirous  to  escape,  led  his  army  away  through 
woody  defiles  and  cross-roads.  At  length  he  succeeded  in  al. 
luring  Aulus,  by  the  prospect  of  a  surrender  on  conditions,  t( 
leave  Suthul,  and  pursue  him,  as  if  in  full  retreat,  into  the  re. 
moter  parts  of  the  country.  Meanwhile,  by  means  of  skillful 
emissaries,  he  tampered  night  and  day  with  our  men,  and  pre- 
vailed on  some  of  the  officers,  both  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  to 
desert  to  him  at  once,  and  upon  others  to  quit  their  posts  at  a 
given  signal,  that  their  defection  might  thus  be  less  observed.38 
Having  prepared  matters  according  to  his  wishes,  he  suddenly 
surrounded  the  camp  of  Aulus,  in  the  dead  of  night,  with  a 
vast  body  of  Numidians.  The  Roman  soldiers  were  alarmed 
with  an  unusual  disturbance  ;  some  of  them  seized  their  arms, 
others  hid  themselves,  others  encouraged  those  that  were  afraid  ; 
but  consternation  prevailed  every  where  ;  for  the  number  of  the 
enemy  was  great,  the  sky  was  thick  with  clouds  and  darknes-s, 
the  danger  was  indiscernible,  and  it  was  uncertain  whether  it 
were  safer  to  flee  or  to  remain.  Of  those  whom  I  have  just 
mentioned  as  being  bribed,  one  cohort  of  Ligurians,  with  two 
troops  of  Thracian  horse,  and  a  few  common  soldiers,  went  over 
to  Jugurtha ;  and  the  chief  centurion37  of  the  third  legion  allow- 
ed the  enemy  an  entrance  at  the  very  post  which  he  had  been 
appointed  to  defend,  and  at  which  all  the  Numidians  poured 
into  the  camp.  Our  men  fled  disgracefully,  the  greater  part 
having  thrown  away  their  arms,  and  took  possession  of  a 
neighboring  hill.  Night,  and  the  spoils  of  the  camp,  prevented 

35  VineseJ  Defenses  made  of  hurdles  or  other  wood,  and  often  covered 
•with  raw  hides,  to  defend  the  soldies  who  worked  the  battering-ram.  The 
word  that  comes  nearest  to  vinece  iu  our  language  is  tnanttlets.  Before  this 
word,  in  many  editions,  occurs  the  phrase  ob  thesaurus  oppidi  potiundi,  which 
Coitius,  whom  I  follow,  omits. 

'•*  XXXVIII.  That  their  defection  might  thus  be  less  observed]  Ha  de* 
licta  occultiora  fore.  Cortiun  transferred  these  words  to  this  place  from  tl:o 
end  of  the  preceding  sentence ;  Kritzius  and  Dietsch  have  restored  them  to 
their  former  place.  Gerlach  thinks  them  an  intruded  gloss. 

»7  The  chief  centurion]  Centuria primi  pili.  There  were  sixty  centurion* 
in  a  Roman  legion  ;  the  one  here  meant  was  the  first,  or  oldest,  centurion 
of  tha  Triarii,  or  PUani. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR,  123 

the  enemy  from  making  full  use  of  this  victory.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day,  Jugurtha,  coining  to  a  conference  with  Aulus, 
told  him,  "  that  though  he  held  him  hemmed  in  by  famine  and 
the  sword,  yet  that,  being  mindful  of  human  vicissitudes,  he 
would,  if  they  would  make  a  treaty  with  him,  allow  them  to 
depart  uninjured  ;  only  that  they  must  pass  under  the  yoke,  and 
quit  Numidia  within  ten  days."  These  terms  were  severe  and 
ignominious ;  but,  as  death  was  the  alternative,38  peace  was  con- 
cluded as  Jugurtha  desired. 

XXXIX.  When  this  affair  was  made  known  at  Rome,  con- 
sternation and  dismay  pervaded  the  city ;  some  were  concerned 
for  the  glory  of  the  republic  ;  others,  ignorant  of  war,  trembled 
for  their  liberty.  But  all  were  indignant  at  Aulus,  and  especial- 
ly those  who  had  been  distinguished  in  the  field,  because,  with 
arms  in  his  hands,  he  had  sought  safety  in  disgrace  rather  than 
in  resistance.  The  consul  Albinus,  apprehending,  from  the  de- 
linquency of  his  brother,  odium  and  danger  to  himself,  consult- 
ed the  senate  on  the  treaty  which  had  been  made,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  raised  recruits  for  the  army,  sent  for  auxiliaries  to  the 
allies  and  Latins,  and  made  general  preparations  for  war.  The 
senate,  as  was  just,  decreed,  "that  no  treaty  could  be  made 
without  their  own  consent  and  that  of  the  people." 

The  consul,  though  he  was  hindered  by  the  influence  of  the 
tribunes  from  taking  with  him  the  force  which  he  had  raised, 
set  out  in  a  few  days  for  the  province  of  Africa,  where  the  whole 
army,  being  withdrawn,  according  to  the  agreement,  from  Nu- 
midia,  had  gone  into  winter-quarters.  When  he  arrived  there, 
although  he  longed  to  pursue  Jugurtha,  and  diminish  the 

'*  As  death  was  the  alternative!  Quid  mortis  metu  mutabant.  Neither 
manuscripts  nor  critics  are  agreed  about  this  passage.  Cortius,  from  a  sug~ 
gestion  ot  Palmerius,  adopted  mutabant;  most  other  editors  have  mutaban- 
tu>  •  but  both  are  to  be  taken  in  the  same  sense ;  for  mutabant  is  equivalent 
to  mutabant  sf.  Cortius's  interpretation  appears  the  most  eligible :  "  Per- 
mutabantur  cum  metuenda  morte,"  i.  e.  there  were  those  conditions  on  one 
side,  and  death  on  the  other,  and  if  they  did  not  accept  the  conditions,  they 
must  die.  Kritzius  fancifully  and  strangely  interprets,  propter  mortis  metum 
K  mutabant,  i.  e.,  alia  videbantur  atque  erant,  or  the  acceptance  of  the  terms 
jippeared  excusable  to  the  soldiers,  because  they  were  threatened  with  death 
it"  they  did  not  accept  them.  It  is  worthwhile  to  notice  the  variety  of 
readings  exhibited  in  the  manuscripts  collated  by  Cortius :  ten  exhibit  mtt- 
t<l>(int<tr;  three,  min itabanttir ;  three,  muUabantur  ;  three,  Unebantur  ;  one, 
tfntbatur;  one,  cnyeba ntur;  one,  cofjebatur ;  one,  angwtiabantur  ;  one,  vrge- 
bartiiir;  and  one,  mortis  metuebant  perictila.  There  is  also,  he  adds,  in 
some  copies,  nutabant,  which  the  liipout  editors  and  Muller  absurdly 
adopted. 


124  SALLUST. 

odium  that  had  fallen  on  his  brother,  yet,  when  he  saw  the 
state  of  the  troops,  whom,  besides  the  flight  and  relaxation  of 
discipline,  licentiousness,  and  debauchery  had  corrupted,  he  de- 
termined, under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,3"  to  attempt 
nothing. 

XL.  At  Rome,  in  the  mean  time,  Caius  Mamilius  Limetanus, 
one  of  the  tribunes,  proposed  that  the  people  should  pass  a  bill 
for  instituting  an  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  those  by  whose  in- 
fluence Jugurtha  had  set  at  naught  the  decrees  of  the  senate,  as 
well  as  of  those  who,  whether  as  embassadors  or  commanders, 
had  received  money  from  him,  or  who  had  restored  to  him  his 
elephants  and  deserters,  or  had  made  any  compacts  with  the 
enemy  relative  to  peace  or  war.  To  this  bill  some,  who  were 
conscious  of  guilt,  and,  others,  who  apprehended  danger  from 
the  jealousy  of  parties,  secretly  raised  obstructions  through  the 
agency  of  friends,  and  especially  of  men  among  the  Latins  and 
Italian  allies,40  since  they  could  not  openly  resist  it,  without  ad- 
mitting that  these  and  similar  practices  met  their  approbation. 
But  as  to  the  people,  it  is  incredible  what  eagerness  they  dis- 
played, and  with  what  spirit  they  approved,  voted,  and  passed 
the  bill,  though  rath  or  from  hatred  to  the  nobility,  against  whom 
these  severe  measures  were  directed,  than  from  concern  for  the 
republic  ;  so  violent  was  the  fury  of  party. 

While  the  rest  of  the  delinquents  were  in  trepidation,  Mar- 
cus Scaurus,41  whom  I  have  previously  noticed  as  Bestia's 
lieutenant,  contrived,  amid  the  exultation  of  the  populace,  the 
dismay  of  his  own  party,  and  the  continued  agitation  in  the 
city,  to  have  himself  elected  one  of  the  three  commissioners 
who  were  appointed  by  the  bill  of  Mamilius  to  cany  it  into  ex- 
ecution. But  the  investigation,  notwithstanding,  was  conduct- 
ed" with  great  rigor  and  violence,  under  the  influence  of  com- 

39  XXXIX.  Under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case]  Ex  copia,  re-rum. 
From  the  number  of  tilings  which  he  had  to  consider. 

40  XL.  The  Latins  and  Italian  allies]  J'er  homines  nominis  Latini,  et  socios 
Ilalicos.    "  The  right  of  voting  was  not  extended  to  all  the  Latin  people  till 
A.u.c.  664,  and  the  Italian  allies  did  not  obtain  it  till  some  years  after- 
ward."    Kritzius.    So  that  at  this  period,  which  was  twenty  years  earlier, 
their  influence  could  only  be  employed  in  an  underhand  way.     Comparo 
c.  42. 

41  Marcus  Scaurus]  See  c.  15.    That  he  was  appointed  on  this  occasion,  is 
an  evident  proof  of  his  commanding  influence. 

42  But  the  investigation,  notwithstanding,  was  conducted,  etc.]  Sed  qiifra- 
tio  exercita,  etc.    Scaurus,  it  is  probable,  did  what  ho  could  to  mitiyate  ti(o 
violence  of  the  proceedings.     Cicero,  however,  says  that  Caius  Gull.;    » 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  -^5 

mon  rumor  and  popular  caprice  ;  for  the  insolence  of  success, 
which  had  often  distinguished  the  nobility,  on  this  occasion 
characterized  the  people. 

XLI.  The  prevalence  of  parties  among  the  people,  and  of 
factions  in  the  senate,  and  of  all  evil  practices  attendant  on 
them,  had  its  origin  at  Rome,  a  few  years  before,  during  a  period 
of  tranquillity,  and  amid  the  abundance  of  all  that  mankind  le- 
garded  as  desirable.  For,  before  the  destruction  of  Carthage, 
the  senate  and  people  managed  the  affairs  of  the  republic  with 
mutual  moderation  and  forbearance  ;  there  were  no  contests 
among  the  citizens  for  honor  or  ascendency ;  but  the  dread  of 
an  enemy  kept  the  state  in  order.  When  that  fear,  however, 
was  removed  from  their  minds,  licentiousness  and  pride,  evils 
which  prosperity  loves  to  foster,  immediately  began  to  prevail ; 
and  thus  peace,  which  they  had  so  eagerly  desired  in  adversity, 
proved,  when  they  had  obtained  it,  more  grievous  and  fatal  than 
adversity  itself.  The  patricians  carried  their  authority,  and  the 
people  their  liberty,  to  excess ;  every  man  took,  snatched,  and 
seized43  what  he  could.  There  was  a  complete  division  into  two 
factions,  and  the  republic  was  torn  in  pieces  between  them.  Yet 
the  nobility  still  maintained  an  ascendency  by  conspiring  to- 
gether ;  for  the  strength  of  the  people,  being  disunited  and  dis- 
persed among  a  multitude,  was  less  able  to  exert  itself.  Things 
were  accordingly  directed,  both  at  home  and  in  the  field,  by  the 
will  of  a  small  number  of  men,  at  whose  disposal  were  the 
treasury,  the  provinces,  offices,  honors,  and  triumphs  ;  while  the 
people  were  oppressed  with  military  service  and  with  poverty, 
and  the  generals  divided  the  spoils  of  war  with  a  few  of  their 
friends.  The  parents  and  children  of  the  soldiers,44  meantime, 

saterdos,  with  fonr  c<mswlare«,  Bestia,  Cains  Cato,  Albinus,  and  Opimius, 
were  condemned  and  exiled  by  this  law  of  Mamilius.  See  Brut.,  c.  34. 

43  XLI.  Took,  snatched,  and  seized]  D-ucere,  trahere,  ra/pere.    "  Ducert 
conveys  the  notion  of  cunning  and  fraud ;  trahere  of  some  degree  of  force ; 
rapere  of  open  violence."    Mutter.    The  words  chiefly  refer  to  offices  in  the 
state,  as  is  apparent  from  what  follows. 
41  The  parents  and  children  of  the  soldiers,  etc.] 
Quid  quod  usque  proximos 

Kevellis  aojri  terminos,  et  ultra 
Limites  clientium 

Salis  avarus  ?    Pellitur  paternos 
In  sinu  ferens  deos 


Et  uxor  et  vir,  sordidosque  natos. 
Jfor. 


Od.,  ii.  18. 


What  can  this  impious  av'rice  stay  ? 
Their  sacred  landmarks  torn  away, 


120  SALLUST. 

if  they  chance:!  (o  dwell  near  a  powerful  neighbor,  were  driven 
from  their  homes.  Thus  avarice,  leagued  with  power,  dis- 
turbed, violated,  aud  wasted  every  thiag,  without  moderation 
or  restraint ;  disregarding  alike  reason  and  religion,  and  rush- 
ing headlong,  as  it  were,  to  its  own  destruction.  For  when- 
ever any  arose  among  the  nobility,45  who  preferred  true  glory 
to  unjust  power,  the  state  was  immediately  in  a  tumult,  and 
civil  discord  spread  with  as  much  disturbance  as  attends  a  con- 
vulsion of  the  earth. 

XLII.  Thus  when  Tiberius  and  Caius  Gracchus,  whose  fore- 
fathers had  done  much  to  increase  the  power  of  the  state  in  the 
Punic  and  other  wars,  began  to  vindicate  the  liberty  of  the 
people,  and  to  expose  the  misconduct  of  the  few,  the  nobility, 
conscious  of  guilt,  and  seized  with  alarm,  endeavored,  some- 
times by  means  of  the  allies  and  Latins,48  and  sometimes  by 
means  of  the  equestrian  order,  whom  the  hope  of  coalition  witli 
the  patricians  had  detached  from  the  people,  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  proceedings  of  the  Gracchi ;  and  first  they  killed  Tiberius, 
and  a  few  years  after  Caius,  who  pursued  the  same  measures  as 
his  brother,  the  one  when  he  was  tribune,  and  the  other  when 
he  was  one  of  a  triumvirate  for  settling  colonies  ;  and  with  them 
they  cut  off  Marcus  Fulvius  Flaccus.  In  the  Gracchi,  indeed, 
it  must  be  allowed  that,  from  their  ardor  for  victory,  there  was 
not  sufficient  prudence.  But  to  a  reasonable  man  it  is  more 
agreeable  to  submit17  to  injustice  than  to  triumph  over  it  by  im- 

You  plunge  into  your  neighbor's  grounds, 
And  overleap  your  client's  bounds, 
Helpless  the  wife  and  husband  flee, 
And  in  their  arms,  expell'd  by  thee? 
Their  household  gods,  adored  in  vain, 
Their  infants,  too,  a  sordid  train. 

Francis. 

«  Among  the  nobility]  Ex  nobilitate.  Cortina  injudiciously  omits  those 
words.  The  reference  is  to  the  Gracchi. 

49  By  means  of  the  allies  and  Latins]  See  on,  c.  40. 

47  But  to  a  reasonable  man  it  is  more  agreeable  to  submit,  etc.]  Sed  lono 
vinci  sating  est,  quant  malo  more  injuriam  mncere.  Bono,  sc.  viro.  "  That 
is,  if  the  nobility  had  been  truly  worthy  characters,  they  would  rather  have 
yielded  to  the  Gracchi,  than  have  revenged  any  wrong  that  they  had  re- 
ceived frem  them  in  an  unprincipled  manner."  Dietsch.  Thus  this  is  a 
reflection  on  the  nobles;  in  which  notion  of  the  passage  Allen  concurs 
with  Dietsch.  Others,  as  Cortius,  think  it  a  reflection  on  the  too  great  vio- 
lence of  the  Gracchi.  The  brevity  with  which  Sallust  had  expressed  him- 
self makes  it  difficult  to  decide.  Kritzius,  who  thinks,  that  the  remark  is  in 
praise  of  the  Gracchi,  supplies  the  ellipse  thus:  "Sane  concedi  dcbet  Grac- 
chis  non  satis  moderatum  animum  i'uisse ;  qnce  res  i/psls  adeo  interitum  attu* 


THE  JUaURTFTTNE  WAR.  121 

proper  means.  The  nobility,  however,  using  their  victory  with 
wanton  extravagance,  exterminated  numbers  of  men  by  the 
swonl  or  by  exile,  yet  rather  increased,  for  the  time  to  come, 
the  dread  with  which  they  were  regarded,  than  their  real 
power.  Such  proceedings  have  often  ruined  powerful  states ; 
for  of  two  parties,  each  strives  to  suppress  the  other  by  any 
means  whatever,  and  take  vengeance  with  undue  severity  on 
the  vanquished. 

But  were  I  to  attempt  to  treat  of  the  animosities  of  parties,  and 
of  the  morals  of  the  state,  with  minuteness  of  detail,  and  suitably 
to  the  vastness  of  the  subject,  time  would  fail  me  sooner  than 
matter.  I  therefore  return  to  my  subject 

XLIII.  After  the  treaty  of  Aulus,  and  the  disgraceful  flight 
of  our  army,  Quintus  Metellus  and  Marcus  Silanus,  the  consuls 
elect,  divided  the  provinces  between  them  ;  and  Numidia  fell 
to  Metellus,  a  man  of  energy,  and,  though  an  opponent  of  the 
popular  party,  yet  of  a  character  uniformly  irreproachable.48 
He,  as  soon  as  he  entered  on  his  office,  regarded  all  other  things 
as  common  to  himself  and  his  colleague,49  but  directed  his  chief 
attention  to  the  war  which  he  was  to  conduct.  Distrusting, 
therefore,  the  old  army,  he  began  to  raise  new  troops,  to  pro- 
cure auxiliaries  from  all  parts,  and  to  provide  arms,  horses,  and 
other  military  requisites,  besides  provisions  in  abundance,  and 
every  thing  else  which  was  likely  to  be  of  use  in  a  war  varied 
in  its  character,  and  demanding  great  resources.  To  assist  in 
accomplishing  these  objects,  the  allies  and  Latins,  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  senate,  and  different  princes60  of  their  own  ac- 
cord, sent  supplies ;  and  the  whole  state  exerted  itself  in  the 
cause  with  the  greatest  zeal.  Having  at  length  prepared  and 
arranged  every  thing  according  to  his  wishes,  Metellus  set  out 

lit ;  scd  sic  qi.io<iue  egregil  viri  putandi  «uni ;  nam  bono  vinci,"  etc.  Langins 
and  Burnonf  join  mmo  with  more,  but  do  not  differ  much  in  their  interpre- 
tations of  the  passage  from  that  given  by  Dietsch. 

48  XLIII.  Of  a  character  uniformly  irreproachable]  Fama  tamen  aquabili 
et  inmolata.  ^Eqvabills  is  uniform,  always  the  same,  keeping  an  even  tenor. 

49  Regarded  all  things  as  common  to  himself  and  his  colleague]  Aliamnia 
ff'Jd  cum  cottegd  ratus.    "  Other  matters,  unconnected  with  the  war  against 
Jugurtha,  he  thought  that  he  would  have  to  manage  in  conjunction  with 
his  colleague,  and  that,  consequently,  he  might  give  but  partial  attention  to 
them ;  but  that  the  war  in  Nnmidia  was  committed  to  his  sole  care."     Cor- 
lius.    Other  interpretations  of  these  words  have  been  suggested  ;  but  they 
jire  fanciful  and  unworthy  of  notice. 

»°  Princes]  Beges.  Who  these  were,  the  commentators  have  not  attempted 
to  conjecture. 


128  SALLUST. 

for  Numidia,  attended  with  sanguine  expectations  on  tlio  part 
of  his  fellow-citizens,  not  only  because  of  his  other  excellent 
qualities,  but  especially  because  his  mind  was  proof  against 
goid  ;  for  it  was  through  the  avarice  of  our  commanders,  that, 
down  to  this  period,  our  affairs  in  Numidia  had  been  ruined, 
and  those  of  the  enemy  rendered  prosperous. 

XLIV.  When  he  arrived  in  Africa,  the  command  of  the  army 
was  resigned  to  him  by  Albinus,  the  proconsul  ;5'  but  it  was 
an  army  spiritless  and  unwarliko ;  incapable  of  encountering 
either  danger  or  fatigue ;  more  ready  with  the  tongue  than 
with  the  sword ;  accustomed  to  plunder  our  allies,  while  itself 
was  the  prey  of  the  enemy ;  unchecked  by  discipline,  and  void 
of  all  regard  to  its  character.  The  new  general,  accordingly, 
felt  more  anxiety  from  the  corrupt  morals  of  the  men,  than  con- 
fidence or  hope  from  their  numbers.  He  determined,  however, 
though  the  delay  of  the  comitia  had  shortened  his  summer  cam- 
paign, and  though  he  knew  his  countrymen  to  be  anxious  for 
the  result  of  his  proceedings,  not  to  commence  operations,  until, 
by  a  revival  of  the  old  discipline,  he  had  brought  the  soldiers  to 
bear  fatigue.  For  Albinus,  dispirited  by  the  disaster  of  his 
brother  Aulus  and  his  army,  and  having  resolved  not  to  leave 
the  province  during  the  portion  of  the  summer  that  lie  was  to 
command,  had  kept  the  soldiers,  for  the  most  part,  in  a  station- 
ary camp,53  except  when  stench,  or  want  of  forage,  obliged  them 
to  remove.  But  neither  had.  the  camp  been  fortified,53  nor  the 
watches  kept,  according  to  military  usage ;  every  one  had 
been  allowed  to  leave  his  post  when  he  pleased.  The  camp- 
followers,  mingled  with  the  soldiers,  wandered  about  day  and 

01  XLIV.  By  Spurius  Albinus,  the  proconsul.]  A  Spurio  AUdno  procon- 
sule.  This  is  the  general  reading.  Cortius  has,  Spurii  Allinipro  ctmgt/le, 
•with  which  we  may  understand  agentis  or  imperantis,  but  can  hardly  believe 
it  to  be  what  Sallust  wrote.  Kritzius  reads,  Spurii  AUnni  proconsulis. 

M  In  a  stationary  camp]  Siativis  ca-itris.  In  contradistinction  to  that 
which  the  soldiers  formed  at  the  end  of  a  day's  march. 

63  But  neither  had  the  camp  been  fortified,  etc.]  Sed  neque  muniebantur  ta 
\  (sc.  castra),  neque  more  ndlitari  vifjilue,  deducebantur.  "  The  words  sed  neqvt 
muniebantur  ea  are  wanting  in  almost  ail  the  manuscript^,  as  well  as  in  all 
the  editions,  except  that  of  Cyprian  us  Popma."  Kritzivis.  Gerlach,  how- 
ever, had,  previously  to  Kritz,  inserted  them  in  hia  text  though  in  brackets ; 
for  he  supposed  them  to  be  a  mere  conjecture  of  some  scribe,  who  was  not 
satisfied  with  a  single  neque.  But  they  have  been  found  in  a  codex  of  Fronto, 
by  Angelo  Mai,  and  have  accordingly  been  received  as  genuine  by  KriU 
and  Dietech.  Potter  and  Burnouf  have  omitted  the  ea,  thinking,  I  suppose, 
that  in  such  a  position  it  could  hardly  be  Sallust's  ;  but  the  verb  requires  :i 
nominative  case  to  prevent  it  from  being  referred  to  the  followi 


TIIK  JUaURTMNE  WAR.  jog 

njght,  ravaging  the  country,  robbing  the  houses,  and  vying 
with  each  other  in  carrying  off  cattle  and  slaves,  which  they  ex- 
changed with  traders  for  foreign  wine54  and  other  luxuries ; 
they  even  sold  the  corn,  which  was  given  them  from  the 
public  store,  and  bought  bread  from  day  to  day  ;  and,  in  a 
word,  whatever  abominations,  arising  from  idleness  and  licen- 
tiousness, can  be  expressed  or  imagined,  and  even  more,  were 
to  be  seen  in  that  army. 

XLV.  But  I  am  assured  that  Metellus,  in  these  difficult  cir- 
cumstances, no  less  than  in  his  operations  against  the  enemy, 
proved  himself  a  great  and  wise  man  ;  so  just  a  medium  did  he 
observe  between  an  affectation  of  popularity  and  an  excessive 
enforcement  of  discipline.  His  first  measure  was  to  remove  in- 
centives to  idleness,  by  a  general  order  that  no  one  should  sell 
bread,  or  any  other  dressed  provisions,  in  the  camp  ;  that  no 
sutlers  should  follow  the  army ;  and  that  no  common  soldier 
should  have  a  servant,  or  beast  of  burden,  either  in  a  camp  or 
on  a  march.  He  made  the  strictest  regulations,  too,  with  re- 
gard to  other  things.65  He  moved  his  camp  daily,  exercising 
the  soldiers  by  marches  across  the  country ;  he  fortified  it  with 
a  rampart  and  a  trench,  exactly  as  if  the  enemy  had  been  at 
hand ;  he  placed  numerous  sentinels56  by  night,  and  went  the 
rounds  with  his  officers ;  and,  when  the  army  was  on  the 
march,  he  would  be  at  one  time  in  the  front,  at  another  in  the 
rear,  and  at  another  in  the  center,  to  see  that  none  quitted  their 
ranks,  that  the  men  kept  close  to  their  standards,  and  that  every 
soldier  carried  his  provisions  and  his  arms.  Thus  by  prevent- 
ing rather  than  punishing  irregularities,  he  in  a  short  time  ren- 
dered his  army  effective. 

XLVI.  Jugurtha,  meantime,  having  learned  from  his  emis- 
saries how  Metellus  was  proceeding,  and  having  heard,  when  ho 
was  in  Rome,  of  the  integrity  of  the  consul's  character,  began 
to  despair  of  his  plans,  and  at  length  actually  endeavored  to  ef- 
fect a  capitulation.  He  therefore  sent  deputies  to  the  consul 
with  proposals  of  submission,  stipulating  only  for  his  own  life 

5«  Foreign  wine]  Vino  advectitio  Imported.  Africa  does  not  abound  in 
wine. 

55  XLV.  With  regard  to  other  things]  Cattris.  Cortius,  whom  Gerlach 
follows,  considers  this  word  as  referring  to  the  men  or  officers ;  but  Krit- 
zius  and  Dietsch,  with  better  judgment,  understand  rebus. 

59  Numerous  sentinels]  Viyillas  crebras.  At  short  intervals,  says  Kritzius, 
from  each  other. 

6* 


130  SALLUST. 

and  that  of  his  children,  and  offering  to  surrender  every  thing 
else  to  the  Romans.  But  Metellus  had  already  learned  by  ex- 
perience, that  the  Numidians  were  a  faithless  race,  of  unsettled  dis- 
position, and  fond  of  change  ;  and  he  accordingly  applied  himself 
10  each  of  the  deputies  separately,  and  after  gradually  sounding 
them,  and  finding  thorn  proper  instruments  for  his  purpose,  pre- 
vailed, on  them,  by  large  promises,  to  deliver  Jugurtha  into  his 
hands ;  bringing  him  alive,  if  they  could,  or  dead,  it'  to  take  him 
alive  was  impracticable.  In  public,  however,  he  directed  th;:t 
such  an  answer  should  be  given  to  the  king  as  would  be  agree- 
able to  his  wishes. 

A  few  days  afterward,  he  Jed  the  army,  which  was  now  vigor- 
ous and  resolute,  into  Nuinidia,  where,  instead  of  any  appear- 
ance of  war,  he  found  the  cottages  full  of  people,  and  the  cattle 
and  laborers  in  the  fields,  while  the  officers  of  Jugurtha  came 
from  the  towns  and  villages"  to  meet  him,  offering  to  supply 
him  with  corn,  to  convey  provisions  for  him,  and  to  do  what- 
ever might  be  required  of  them.  Metellus,  notwithstanding, 
made  no  diminution  in  the  caution  with  which  he  marched,  but 
kept  as  much  upon  the  defensive  as  if  an  enemy  had  been  at 
hand  ;  and  he  dispatched  scouts  to  explore  the  country,  think- 
ing that  these  signs  of  submission  were  but  pretense,  and.that 
the  Numidians  were  watching  an  opportunity  for  treachery. 
He  himself,  with  some  light-armed  cohorts,  and  a  select  body 
of  slingers  and  archers,  advanced  always  in  the  front ;  while 
Caius  Marius,  his  lieutenant-general,  at  the  head  of  the  cavalry, 
had  charge  of  the  rear.  The  auxiliary  horse,  distributed  among 
the  tribunes  of  the  legions  and  prefects  of  the  cohorts,  he  placed 
on  the  flanks,  so  that,  with  the  aid  of  the  light  troops  mixed 
with  them,  they  might  repel  the  enemy  whenever  an  approach 
should  be  made.  For  such  was  the  subtlety  of  Jugurtha,  and 
such  his  knowledge  of  the  country  and  the  art  of  war,  that  it 
was  doubtful  whether  he  was  more  formidable  absent  or  present, 
offering  peace  or  threatening  hostilities. 

XLVII.  There  lay,  not  far  from  the  route  which  Metellus 
was  pursuing,  a  city  of  the  Numidians  named  Vaga,  the  most 
celebrated  place  for  trade  in  the  whole  kingdom,  in  which 
many  Italian  merchants  were  accustomed  to  reside  and  traffic. 
Here  the  consul,  to  try  the  disposition  of  the  inhabitants,  and, 

57  XLVT.  Villages]  Mapalibus.  See  c.  xviii.  The  word  is  here  used  for 
a  collection  of  huts,  a  village. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  131 

should  they  allow  him,  to  take  advantage  of  the  situation  of 
the  place,*8  established  a  garrison,  and  ordered  the  people  to 
furnish  him  with  corn,  and  other  necessaries  for  war ;  thinking, 
as  circumstances  indeed  suggested,  that  the  concourse  of 
merchants,  and  frequent  arrival  of  supplies,59  would  add 
strength  to  his  army,  and  further  the  plans  which  he  had  al- 
ready formed. 

In  the  midst  of  these  proceedings,  Jugurtha,  with  extra- 
ordinary earnestness,80  sent  deputies  to  sue  for  peace,  offering 
to  resign  every  thing  to  Metellus,  except  his  own  life  and  that 
of  his  children.  These,  like  the  former,  the  consul  first 
seduced  to  treachery,  and  then  sent  back ;  the  peace  which 
Jugurtha  asked,  he  neither  granted  nor  refused,  but  waited, 
during  these  delays,  the  performance  of  the  deputies'  promises. 

XLVIII.  Jugurtha,  on  comparing  the  words  of  Metellus 
with  his  actions,  perceived  that  he  was  assailed  with  his  own 
artifices ;  for  though  peace  was  offered  him  in  words,  a  most 
vigorous  war  was  in  reality  pursued  against  him ;  one  of  his 

M  XLVII.  Here  the  consul,  to  try  the  disposition  of  the  inhabitants,  and, 
should  they  allow  him,  to  take  advantage  or  the  situation  of  the  place,  etc.] 
Hue  consul,  simul  tentandi  gratia,  et  si  paterentur,  apportuniatis  loci,  presi- 
dium imponit.  This  is  a  locus  vexatissimus.  about  which  no  editor  has 
satisfied  himself.  I  have  deserted  Cortius  and  followed  Dietsch,  who  seems 
to  have  settled  the  passage,  on  the  basis  of  Havercamp's  text,  with  rwore 
judgment  than  any  other  commentator.  Cortius  read,  Hue  consul  simul 
tentandi  gratia,  si  paterent  opportunitates  loci,  etc.,  taking  opportuniatates  in 
the  sense  of  munitwnes,  "  defenses;"  but  would  Sallust  have  said  that  Metd- 
lus  put  a  garrison  in  the  place,  to  try  if  its  defenses  would  be  open  to  him? 
Havercamp's  reading  is,  simul  tentandi  gratia,  et  si  paterentur  opportunitates 
loci,  etc.  Palmerius  conjectured  simul  teniandi  gratia,  si  paterentur  ;  et  op- 
portunitate  loci,  which  Gerlach  and  Kritsius  adopt,  except  that  they  change 
the  place  of  the  «',  and  put  it  before  si.  Allen  thinks  that  he  has  amended 
the  passage  by  reading  Hue  consul,  simul  si  paterentur  tentandi,  et  opportu- 
nitatig  loci,  gratld  ;  but  this  conjecture  is  liable  to  similar  objection  with 
that  of  Cortius.  Other  varieties  of  reading  it  is  needless  to  notice.  But  it 
ia  observable  that  four  manuscripts,  as  Kritzius  remarks,  have  propter  op- 
portunitates,  which  led  me  long  ago  to  suppose  that  the  true  reading  must 
be  simul  tentandi  gratia,  simul  propter  opportunities  loci.  Simul  propter 
might  easily  have  been  corrupted  into  si  paterentur. 

69  Frequent  arrival  of  supplies]  Commeatum.  "  Frumenti  et  omnium 
rerum  quarum  in  bello  usus  est,  largam  copiam."  Kritzius.  I  follow  the 
text  of  Cortius  (retaining  the  words  juvaturum  exereitum)  which  Kritzius 
sufficiently  justifies.  There  is  a  variety  of  readings,  but  all  much  the  same 
in  sense. 

60  Extraordinary  earnestness]  Impensius  mode.  Cortius  and  Kritzius  in- 
terpret this  modo  as  the  ablative  case  of  modus  ;  i.  e.  qttam  modus  ervt,  or 
supra  modum;  but  Dietach  and  Burnouf  question  the  propriety  of  this  in- 
terpretation, and  consider  the  modo  to  be  the  same  as  that  in  tantummodo, 
dummodo,  etc.  The  same  expression  occurs  again  in  c.  75. 


132 


SALLTJST. 


strongest  cities  was  wrested  from  him  ;  his  country  was  ex- 
plored by  the  enemy,  and  the  affections  of  hi.s  subjects  alien- 
ated. Being  compelled,  therefore,  by  the  necessity  of  circum- 
stances, he  resolved  to  try  the  fortune  of  a  battle.  Having, 
with  this  view,  informed  himself  of  the  exact  route  of  the- ene- 
my, and  hoping  for  success  from  the  advantage  of  the  ground, 
he  collected  as  large  a  force  of  every  kind  as  he  could,  and, 
marching  by  cross-roads,  got  in  advance  of  Metellus'  army. 

There  was,  in  that  part  of  Numidia,  of  which,  on  the  divi- 
sion of  the  kingdom,  Adherbal  had  become  possessor,  a  river 
named  Muthul,  flowing  from  the  south ;  and,  about  twenty 
miles  from  it,  was  a  range  of  mountains  running  parallel  with 
the  stream,61  wild  and  uncultivated  ;  but  from  the  center  of  it 
stretched  a  kind  of  hill,  reaching  to  a  vast  distance,  covered 
with  wild  olives,  myrtles,  and  other  trees,  such  as  grow  in  a 
dry  and  sandy  soil.  The  plain,  which  lay  between  the  moun- 
tains and  the  Muthul,  was  uninhabited  from  want  of  water,  ex- 
cept the  parts  bordering  on  the  river,  which  were  planted  with 
trees,  and  full  of  cattle  and  inhabitants. 

XLIX.  On  this  hill,  which  I  have  just  mentioned,  stretching 
in  a  transverse  direction,02  Jugurtha  took  post  with  his  line 
drawn  out  to  a  great  length.  The  command  of  the  elephants, 
and  of  part  of  the  infantry,  he  committed  to  Bomilcar,  and 

"'  XLVIII.  Running  parallel  -with  the  stream]  Tractu  pari.  It  may  bo 
well  to  illustrate  this  and  the  following  chapter  by  a  copy  of  the  fines 
which  Cortina  has  drawn,.  "  to  excite,"  as  he  says,  "the  imagination  of  1m 
readers :" 

Kiver  Muthul,  flowing  from  the  south. 


North. 


Range  of  hills,  parallel 
o 


with  the  Muthul. 


M  XLIX.   In  a  tranverse  direction]   Tranwerso  itinere.     It  lay  on  th« 
flank  of  the  Romans  as  they  marched  toward  the  river,  in  dextero  latere, 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR 

gave  him  instructions  how  to  act.  He  himself,  with  the 
of  the  cavalry  and  the  choicest  of  the  foot,  took  his  station 
nearer  to  the  range  of  mountains.  Then,  riding  round  among 
the  several  squadrons  and  battalions,  he  exhorted  and  conjured 
them  to  call  to  mind  their  former  prowess  and  triumphs,  and 
to  defend  themselves  and  their  country  from  Roman  rapacity ; 
saying  that  they  would  have  to  engage  with  those  whom  they 
had  already  conquered  and  sent  under  the  yoke,  and  that, 
though  their  commander  was  changed,  there  was  no  alteration 
in  their  spirit.  He  added,  that  he  had  provided  for  his  men 
every  thing  becoming  a  general ;  that  he  had  chosen  the 
higher  ground,  where  they,  being  well  acquainted  with  the 
country,63  would  contend  with  adversaries  ignorant  of  it ;  nor 
would  they  engage,  inferior  in  numbers  and  skill,  with  a  larger 
or  more  experienced  force ;  and  that  they  should,  therefore,  be 
ready,  when  the  signal  should  be  given,  to  fall  vigorously  on 
the  Romans,  as  that  day  would  either  crown64  all  their  labors 
and  victories,  or  be  a  prelude  to  the  most  grievous  calamities. 
He  also  addressed  himself,  individually,  to  any  one  whom  he 
had  rewarded  with  money  or  honors  for  military  desert,  remind- 
ing him  of  his  favors,  and  pointing  him  out  as  an  example  to 
the  rest ;  and  finally  he  excited  all  his  men,  some  in  one  way 
and  some  in  another,  by  threats  or  entreaties,  according  to  the 
different  dispositions  of  each. 

Metellus,  who  was  still  ignorant  of  the  enemy's  position, 
was  now  seen65  descending  the  mountain  with  his  army.  He 
was  at  first  doubtful  what  the  strange  appearance  before  him 
indicated ;  for  the  Numidians,  both  cavalry  and  infantry,  had 
taken  post  among  the  wood,  not  entirely  concealing  them- 
selves, by  reason  of  the  lowness  of  the  trees,  yet  rendering 
it  uncertain00  what  they  were,  as  both  themselves  and  their 
standards  were  screened  as  well  by  the  nature  of  the  ground 

«3  Well  acquainted  with  the  country]  Prudenies,  "  Periti  loci  et  r»,gionis." 
Gtrtius.  Or  it  may  mean  knowing  what  they  were  to  do,  while  the  enemy 
would  be  imperUi,  surprised  and  perplexed. 

«*  Would  crowu]  Confirrnat-urum.  Would  establish,  settle,  put  the  last 
hand  to  them. 

85  Was  seen]  Conspicitvr.  This  is  the  reading  adopted  by  Cortius,  Muller. 
and  Allen,  as  being  that  of  all  the  manuscripts.  Havercamp,  KritzJus,  and 
Dietsch  admitted  into  their  texts,  on  the  sole  authority  of  Donatus  ad  Ter. 
Eun.  ii.  8,  conspicatur,  i.  e.  (Metellus)  catches  sight  of  the  enemy.  The  latter 
reading,  perhaps,  makes  a  better  connection. 

8S  Rendering  it  uncertain]  Incerti.  Presenting  such  an  appearance  that  a 
spectator  could  not  bo  certain  what  they  were. 


/34  SALLUST. 

::s  by  artifice  ;  but  soon  perceiving  that  there  were  men  in  am- 
bush, he  halted  awhile,  and,  having  altered  the  arrangement 
of  his  troops,  he  drew  up  those  in  the  right  wing,  which  was 
nearest  to  the  enemy,  in  three  lines  ;"7  he  distributed  the  sling- 
crs  and  archers  among  the  infantry,  posted  all  the  cavalry  on 
the  flanks,  and  having  made  a  brief  address,  such  as  time  per- 
mitted, to  his  men,  he  led  them  down,  with  the  front  changed 
into  a  flank,08  toward  the  plain. 

L.  But  when  he  observed  that  the  Numidians  remained 
quiet,  and  did  not  offer  to  descend  from  the  hill,  he  became 
apprehensive  that  his  army,  from  the  season  of  the  year  and 
the  scarcity  of  water,  naight  be  overcome  with  thirst,  and  there- 
fore sent  Rutilius,  one  of  his  lieutenant-generals,  with  the  light- 
armed  cohorts  and  a  detachment  of  cavalry,  toward  the  river, 
to  secure  ground  for  an  encampment,  expecting  that  the  ene- 
my, by  frequent  charges  and  attacks  on  his  flank,  would  en- 
deavor to  impede  his  march,  and,  as  they  despaired  of  success 
in  arms,  would  try  the  effect  of  fatigue  and  thirst  on  his  troops. 
lie  then  continued  to  advance  by  degrees,  as  his  circumstances  and 
the  ground  permitted,  in  the  same  order  in  which  he  had  descend- 
ed from  the  range  of  mountains.  He  assigned  Marius  his  post  be- 
hind the  front  line,09  and  took  on  himself  the  command  of  the 

07  He  drew  up  these  in  the  right  wing — in  three  lines]  In  dextero  latere- 
triplicibus  subsidies  aciem  instraxit.  In  the  other  passages  in  which  Sallust 
lias  the  word  subsidia  (Cat.  c.  59).  he  uses  it  for  the  lines  behind  the  front. 
Thus  he  says  of  Catiline,  Octo  cohories  infronte  constituit ;  reliqua  siijna  in 
subsidiis  aretvus  collocat ;  and  of  Petreius,  Cokortes  veteranas—in  fronts : 
post  eas  reliquum  exercitum  in  subsidiis  local.  But  whether  he  uses  the  word 
in  the  same  sense  here ;  whether  we  might,  as  Cortius  thinks  (whom  Ger- 
laeh  and  Dietsch  follow),  call  the  division  of  Metellus's  troops  quadruple 
instead  of  triple,  or  whether  he  arranged  them,  as  De  Crosses  and  others 
suppose,  in  the  usual  disposition  of  Ilastati,  Principes,  and  Triarii,  who 
shall  place  beyond  dispute?  The  probability,  however,  if  Sallust  is  con- 
sistent with  himself  in  his  use  of  the  word,  lies  with  Cortius.  Gerlach  re- 
fers to  Caesar,  De  Bell,  Civ.,  ill.  89  :  "  Celeriter  ex  tertid,  acie  singulas  cohortes 
detraxit,  atque  ex  his  quartam  instituit /  but  this  does  not  illustrate  Sallust's 
use  of  the  word  subsidia  :  Ctesar  forms  a  fourth  acies ;  Metellus  draws  up 
one  acies  "  triplicibus  subsidiu." 

88  With  the  front  changed  into  a  flank]  Transversis  principals.  He  made 
the  whole  army  wheel  to  the  left,  so  that  what  WHS  their  front  line,  or  prin- 
cipia, as  they  faced  the  enemy  on  the  hill,  became  their  flank  as  they  marched, 
from  the  mountain  toward  the  river. 

6"  L.  Behind  the  front  line]  Post  principia.  The  principia  are  the  same 
as  those  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note,  that  is,  the  front  line  when  the 
army  faced  that  of  Jugurtha  on  the  hill,  but  which  presented  its  flank  to 
the  enemy  when  the  army  was  on  its  march.  So  that  Marius  commanded 
in  the  center  ("in  medio  agmine,"  says  Dietsch),  while  Metellus  took  the 
lead  with  the  cavalry  of  the  left  wing.  See  the  following  note. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  135 

cavalry  on  the  left  wing,  which,  on  the  inarch,  had  become  the 
van.70 

When  Jugurtha  perceived  that  the  rear  of  the  Roman  army 
ha  1  passed  his  first  line,  he  took  possession  of  that  part  of  the 
mountain  from  which  Metellus  had  descended,  with  a  body  of 
about  two  thousand  infantry,  that  it  might  not  serve  the  enemy, 
if  they  were  driven  back,  as  a  place  of  retreat,  and  afterward 
as  a  post  of  defense  ;  and  then,  ordering  the  signal  to  be  given, 
suddenly  commenced  his  attack.  Some  of  his  Numidians 
maie  havoc  in  the  rear  of  the  Romans,  while  others  assailed 
them  on  the  right  and  left  wings ;  they  all  advanced  and 
charged  furiously,  and  every  where  threw  the  consul's  troops 
into  confusion.  Even  those  of  our  men  who  made  the  stoutest 
resistance,  were  baffled  by  the  enemy's  versatile  method  of 
fighting,  and  wounded  from  a  distance,  without  having  the 
power  of  wounding  in  return,  or  of  coming  to  close  combat ; 
for  the  Numidian  cavalry,  as  they  had  been  previously  in- 
structed by  Jugurtha,  retreated  whenever  a  troop  of  Romans 
attempted  to  pursue  them,  but  did  not  keep  in  a  body,  or  col- 
lect themselves  into  one  place,  but  dispersed  as  widely  as  pos- 
sible. Thus,  being  superior  in  numbers,  if  they  could  not  de- 
ter the  Romans  from  pursuing,  they  surrounded  them,  when 
disordered,  on  the  rear  or  flank,  or,  if  the  hill  seemed  more 
convenient  for  retreat  than  the  plain,  the  Numidian  horses, 
being  accustomed  to  the  brushwood,  easily  made  their  way 
among  it,  while  the  difficulty  of  the  ascent,  and  want  of  ac- 
quaintance with  the  ground,  impeded  those  of  the  Romans. 

LI.  The  aspect  of  the  whole  struggle'1  was  indeed  various, 
perplexing,  direful,  and  lamentable ;  the  men,  separated  from 
their  comrades,  were  partly  fleeing,  partly  pursuing ;  neither 
standards  nor  ranks  were  regarded,  but  wherever  danger 
pressed,  there  they  made  a  stand  and  defended  themselves ; 
arms  ani  weapons,  horses  and  men,  enemies,  and  fellow-coun- 
trymen, were  all  mingled  in  confusion  ;  nothing  was  done  by 
direction  or  command,  but  chance  ordered  every  thing.  Though 

10  Cavalry  on  the  left  wing — which,  on  the  march,  had  become  the  van] 
Sinistrce  nice,  eqaitibus — qui  in  agmine  principes  facti  erant.  When  Metellaa 
halted  (c.  49,  tin.),  and  drew  up  his  troops  fronting  the  hill  on  which 
Jugurtha  was  posted,  he  placed  all  his  cavalry  in  the  wings ;  consequently, 
when  the  army  wheeled  to  the  left,  and  marched  forward,  the  cavalry  6t' 
the  left  wing  became  the  van. 

71  LI.  Of  the  whole  struggle]  Totius  negotii.  That  is,  on  the  side  of  the 
Romans. 


HO  SALLUST. 

tlio  day,  therefore,  Avas  now  far  advance'],  (lie  event  of  tnfl 
contest  was  still  uncertain.  At  last,  however,  when  all  were 
faint  with  exertion  and  the  heat  of  the  day,  Metellus,  observing 
that  the  Numidians  were  less  vigorous  in  their  charges,  drew 
his  troops  together  by  degrees,  restored  order  among  them,  and 
led  four  cohorts  of  the  legions  against  the  enemy's  infantry,  of 
whom  a  great  number,  overcome  with  fatigue,  had  seated  them- 
selves on  the  high  ground.  He  at  the  same  time  entreated  and 
exhorted  his  men  not  to  lose  courage,  nor  to  suffer  a  flying 
enemy  to  be  victorious ;  adding  that  they  had  neither  camp 
nor  citadel  to  which  they  could  Hee,  but  that  their  only  depend- 
ence was  on  their  arms.  Nor  was  Jugurtha,  in  the  mean  time, 
inactive ;  he  rode  round  among  his  troops,  cheered  them,  re- 
newed the  contest,  and,  at  the  head  of  a  select  body,  made 
every  possible  effort  for  victory ;  supporting  his  own  men, 
charging  such  of  the  enemy  as  wavered,  and  repressing  with 
missiles  such  as  he  saw  remaining  unshaken. 

LIT.  Thus  did  these  two  commanders,  both  eminent  men, 
maintain  the  contest  against  each  other.  In  personal  ability 
they  were  equal,  but  in  circumstances  unequal.  Metellus  had 
resolute  troops,  but  a  disadvantageous  position ;  Jugurtha  had 
every  thing  in  his  favor  except  men.  At  last  the  Romans, 
seeing  that  they  had  no  place  of  refuge,  that  the  enemy 
allowed  no  opportunity  for  a  regular  engagement,  and  that  the 
evening  was  fast  approaching,  forced  their  way,  according  to 
the  orders  which  were  given,  up  the  hill.  The  Numidians 
were  thus  driven  from  their  position,  routed,  and  put  to 
flight ;  a  few  of  them  were  slain,  but  their  speed,  and  the  enemy's 
ignorance  of  the  country,72  saved  the  greater  number  of  them. 

Meanwhile  Bomilcar,  who,  as  I  have  said  before,  was  appoint- 
ed by  Jugurtha  over  the  elephants  and  a  part  of  the  infantry, 
having  seen  Rutilius  pass  by  him,  led  down  his  men  gradually 
into  the  plain,  and  while  Rutilius  hastened  to  the  river,  to 
which  he  had  been  dispatched,  quietly  drew  them  up  in  such 
order  as  circumstances  required ;  not  omitting,  at  the  same 
time,  to  watch  every  movement  of  the  enemy.  When  he 
learned  that  Rutilius  had  taken  his  position,  and  seemed  free 
from  apprehension  of  danger,  and  heard,  at  the  same  time,  an 
increasing  noise  where  Jugurtha  was  engaged,  fearing  lest  the 

73  LII.  The  enemy's  ignorance  of  the  country]  Reglo  hostibus  ignara. 
Ignara  for  ignota  ;  a.  country  unknown  to  the  enemy. 


THE  JUOURTIIINK  WAR.  1~,7 

/u'litriiant-general,  taking  the  ahnn,  should  go  (o  (he  suppo't 
of  his  countrymen  in  difficulties,  he,  in  order  io  intercept  his 
march,  increased  the  extent  of  his  lines,  which,  from  distrust  of 
the  hravery  of  his  men,  he  had  previously  condensed,  and 
advanced  in  this  order  toward  Rutilins'  camp. 

LIII.  The  Romans,  on  a  sudden,  observed  a  vast  cloud  of 
dust,  which,  as  the  ground,  thickly  covered  with  brushes, 
obstructed  their  view,  they  at  first  supposed  to  be  only  sand 
raised  by  the  wind  ;  but  at  length,  when  they  saw  that  it  con- 
tinued uniform,  and  approached  nearer  and  nearer  as  the  line 
advanced,  they  understood  the  real  cause  of  it,  and,  hastily 
seizing  their  arms,  drew  up,  as  their  commander  directed,  before 
the  camp.  When  the  enemy  came  up,  both  sides  rushed  to  the 
encounter  with  loud  shouts.  But  the  Numidians  maintained 
the  contest  only  as  long  as  they  trusted  for  support  to  their 
elephants ;  for,  when  they  saw  the  animals  entangled  in  the 
boughs  of  the  trees,  and  dispersed  or  surrounded  by  the  enemy, 
they  betook  themselves  to  flight,  and  most  of  them,  having 
thrown  away  their  arms,  escaped,  by  favor  of  the  hill,  or  of  the 
night,  which  was  now  coming  on,  without  injury.  Of  the  ele- 
phants, four  were  taken,  and  the  rest,  to  the  number  of  forty, 
were  killed. 

The  Romans,  though  fatigued  and  exhausted73  with  their 
march,  the  construction  of  their  camp,  and  the  engagement,  yet, 
as  Metellus  was  longer  in  coming  than  they  expected,  advanced 
to  meet  him  in  regular  and  steady  order.  The  subtlety  of  the 
Numidians,  indeed,  allowed  them  neither  rest  nor  relaxation. 
But  as  the  two  parties  drew  together,  in  the  obscurity  of  the 
night,  each  occasioned,  by  a  noise  like  that  of  enemies  approach- 
ing, alarm  and  trepidation  in  the  other ;  and,  had  not  parties  of 
horse,  sent  forward  from  both  sides,  ascertained  the  truth,  a  fatal 
disaster  was  on  the  point  of  happening  from  the  mistake.  How- 
ever, in  place  of  fear,  joy  quickly  succeeded ;  the  soldiers  met 
with  mutual  congratulations,  relating  their  adventures,  or  listening 
to  those  of  others,  and  each  extolling  his  own  achievements  to  the 
skies.  For  thus  it  is  with  human  affairs ;  in  success,  even  cowards 
may  boast ;  while  defeat  lowers  the  character  even  of  heroes. 

73  LIIT.  Fatigued  and  exhausted]  Fessi  lassique.  I  am  once  more  obliged 
to  desert  Cortina,  who  reads  latique.  The  sense,  as  Kritzius  and  Dietsch 
observe,  shows  that  laeti  can  not  be  the  reading,  for  there  must  evidently  be 
a  complete  antithesis  between  the  two  parts  of  the  sentence ;  an  antithesis 
which  would  be  destroyed  by  the  introduction  of  Iceti.  Gerlach,  though  ho 
retains  Iceti  in  his  text,  condemns  it  in  his  notes. 


138  SALLUST 

LIV.  Metellus  remained  four  days  in  the  same  camp.  He 
carefully  provided  for  the  recovery  of  the  wounded,  rewarded, 
in  military  fashion,  such  as  had  distinguished  themselves  in  the 
engagements,  and  praised  and  thanked  them  all  in  a  public 
address;  exhorting  them  to  maintain  equal  resolution  in  their 
future  labors,  which  would  be  less  arduous,  as  they  had  fought 
sufficiently  for  victory,  and  would  now  have  to  contend  only  for 
spoil.  In  the  mean  time  he  dispatched  deserters,  and  other 
eligible  persons,  to  ascertain  where  Jugurtha  was,  or  what  he 
was  doing ;  whether  he  had  but  few  followers,  or  a  large  army ; 
and  how  he  conducted  himself  under  his  defeat.  The  prince, 
he  found,  had  retreated  to  places  full  of  wood,  well  defended  by 
nature,  and  was  there  collecting  an  army,  which  would  be  more 
numerous  indeed  than  the  former,  but  inactive  and  inefficient, 
as  being  composed  of  men  better  acquainted  with  husbandry 
and  cattle  than  with  war.  This  had  happened  from  the  circum- 
stance, that,  in  case  of  flight,  none  of  the  Numidian  troops,  ex- 
cept the  royal  cavalry,  follow  their  king;  the  rest  disperse, 
wherever  inclination  leads  them ;  nor  is  this  thought  any  dis- 
grace to  them  as  soldiers,  such  being  the  custom  of  the  people. 

Metellus,  therefore,  seeing  that  Jugurtha's  spirit  was  still 
unsubdued ;  that  a  war  was  being  renewed,  which  could  only 
be  conducted74  according  to  the  prince's  pleasure  ;  and  that  he 
was  struggling  with  the  enemy  on  unequal  terms,  as  the  Numi- 
dians  suffered  a  defeat  with  less  loss  than  his  own  men  gained 
a  victory,  he  resolved  to  manage  the  contest,  not  by  pitched 
battles  or  regular  warfare,  but  in  another  method.  He  accord- 
ingly marched  into  the  richest  parts  of  Numidia,  captured  and 
burned  many  fortresses  and  towns,  which  were  insufficiently  or 
wholly  undefended,  put  the  youth  to  the  sword,  and  gave  up 
every  thing  else  as  plunder  to  his  soldiers.  From  the  terror 
caused  by  these  proceedings,  many  persons  were  given  up  a^ 
hostages  to  the  Romans ;  corn,  arid  other  necessaries,  were 
supplied  in  abundance ;  and  garrisons  were  admitted  wherever 
Metellus  thought  fit. 

These  measures  alarmed  Jugurtha  much  more  than  the  loss 
of  the  late  battle ;  for  he,  whose  whole  security  lay  in  flight, 
was  compelled  to  pursue  ;  and  he  who  could  not  defend  his  own 

74  LIV.  Which  could  only  be  conducted,  etc.]  Quod,  nisi  ex  ittius  luKdine, 
geri  nan  posset.  Cortius  omits  the  non  before  posset,  but  almost  every  other 
editor,  except  Allen,  lias  retained  it,  from  a  conviction  of  necessity. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  1,T9 

part  of  the  kingdom,  was  obliged  to  make  war  in  that  which 
was  occupied  by  others.  Under  these  circumstances,  however,75 
he  adopted  what  seemed  the  most  eligible  plan.  He  ordered 
the  main  body  of  his  army  to  continue  stationary ;  while  he 
himself,  with  a  select  troop  of  cavalry,  went  in  pursuit  of  Me- 
tollus,  and  coming  upon  him  unperceived,  by  means  of  night 
marches  and  by-roads,  he  fell  upon  such  of  the  Roman  as 
were  straggling  about,  of  whom  the  greater  number,  being  un- 
nrmed,  were  slain,  and  several  others  made  prisoners ;  not  one 
of  them,  indeed,  escaped  unharmed ;  and  the  Numidians,  before 
assistance  could  arrive  from  the  camp,  fled,  as  they  had  been 
ordered,  to  the  nearest  hills. 

LV.  In  the  mean  time  great  joy  appeared  at  Rome  when  the 
proceedings  of  Metellus  were  reported,  and  when  it  was  known 
how  he  was  conducting  himself  and  his  army  conformably  to 
the  ancient  discipline;  how,  on  adverse  ground,  he  had  gained 
a  victory  by  his  valor ;  how  he  was  securing  possession  of  the 
enemy's  territory ;  and  how  he  had  driven  Jugurtha,  when 
elated  by  the  weakness  of  Aulus,  to  depend  for  safety  on  the 
desert  or  on  flight.  For  these  successes,  accordingly,  the  senate 
decreed  a  thanksgiving78  to  the  immortal  gods  ;  the  city,  which 
had  been  full  of  anxiety,  and  apprehensive  as  to  the  event  of  the 
war,  was  now  filled  with  joy;  and  the  fame  of  Metellus  was 
raised  to  the  utmost  height. 

The  consul's  eagerness  to  gain  a  complete  victory  was  thus 
increased ;  he  exerted  himself  in  every  possible  way,  taking  care, 
at  the  same  time,  to  give  the  enemy  no  opportunity  of  attacking 
him  to  advantage.  He  remembered  that  envy  is  the  concom- 
itant of  glory,  and  thus,  the  more  renowned  he  became,  the 
greater  Avas  his  caution  and  circumspection.  He  never  went  out 
to  plunder,  after  the  sudden  attack  of  Jugurtha,  with  his  troops 
in  scattered  parties ;  when  corn  or  forage  was  sought,  a  body 
of  cohorts,  with  the  whole  of  the  cavalry,  were  stationed  as  a 
guard.  He  himself  conducted  part  of  the  army,  and  Marius  the 
rest.  The  country  was  wasted,  however,  more  by  fire  than  by 
spoliation.  They  had  separate  camps,  not  far  from  each  other  ; 

75  Under  these  circumstances,  however]  Ex  copid  tamen.  With  eopia  we 
must  understand  congiliorum  or  rerum,  us  at  the  end  of  c.  39.  All  the  man- 
uscripts, except  two,  have  inopid,  which  editors  have  justly  rejected  as  incon- 
sistent with  the  sense. 

78  LV.  A  thanksgiving]  Supplicia.  The  same  as  supplicatio,  on  which  the 
Deader  may  consults  Adam's  Koiu.  Ant.,  or  Dr.  Smith's  Dictionary. 


140  SALLUST. 

whenever  there  was  occasion  for  force,  they  formed  a  union  ; 
but,  that  desolation  and  terror  might  spread  the  further,  they 
acted  separately.  Jugurtha,  meanwhile,  continued  to  follow 
them  along  the  hills,  watching  for  a  favorable  opportunity  or 
situation  for  an  attack.  He  destroyed  the  forage,  and  spoiled 
the  water,  which  was  scarce,  wherever  he  found  that  the  enemy 
were  coming.  He  presented  himself  sometimes  to  Metellus,  and 
sometimes  to  Marius ;  he  would  attack  their  rear  upon  a  march, 
and  instantly  retreat  to  the  hills  ;  he  would  threaten  sometimes 
one  point,  and  sometimes  another,  neither  giving  battle  nor 
allowing  rest,  but  making  it  his  great  object  to  retard  the  pro- 
gress of  the  enemy. 

LVI.  The  Roman  commander,  finding  himself  thus  harassed 
by  artifices,  and  allowed  no  opportunity  of  coming  to  a  general 
engagement,  resolved  on  laying  siege  to  a  large  city,  named 
Zama,  which  was  the  bulwark  of  that  part  of  the  kingdom  in 
which  it  was  situate ;  expecting  that  Jugurtha,  as  a  necessary 
consequence,  would  come  to  the  relief  of  his  subjects  in  distress, 
and  that  a  battle  would  then  follow.  But  the  king,  being 
apprised  by  some  deserters  of  the  consul's  design,  reached  the 
place,  by  rapid  marches,  before  him,  and  exhorted  the  inhabi- 
tants to  defend  their  walls,  giving  them,  as  a  reinforcement,  a 
body  of  deserters ;  a  class  of  men,  who,  of  all  the  royal  forces, 
were  the  most  to  be  trusted,  inasmuch  as  they  dared  riot  bo 
guilty  of  treachery."  He  also  promised  to  support  them,  when- 
ever it  should  be  necessary,  with  his  whole  army. 

Having  taken  these  precautions,  he  retired  into  the  deserts 
of  the  interior  ;  where  he  soon  after  learned  that  Marius,  with 
a  few  cohorts,  had  been  dispatched  from  the  line  of  march  to 
bring  provisions  from  Sicca,78  a  town  which  had  been  the  first 
to  revolt  from  him  after  his  defeat.  To  this  place  he  hastened 
by  night,  accompanied  by  a  select  body  of  cavalry,  and  attacked 

"  LVI.  Dared  not  be  guilty  of  treachery]  Fallere  nequibani.  "Through 
dread  of  the  severest  punishments  if  they  should  full  into  the  hands  of  the 
Romans.  Valerius  Maximus,  ii.  7,  speaks  of  deserters  having  been  deprived 
of  their  hands  by  Quintus  Fabiua  Maximus ;  of  others  who  were  crucified 
or  beheaded  by  the  elder  Africanus ;  of  others  who  were  thrown  to  wild 
beasts  by  Africanus  the  younger;  and  of  others  who  were  sentenced  by 
Paulus  JSmilius  to  be  trampled  to  death  by  elephants.  Hence  it  appears 
that  the  punishment  of  deserters  was  left  to  the  pleasure  of  the  general." 
Burnowf. 

78  Sicca]  It  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  Bagradas,  at  some  distance  from  the 
coast,  and  contained  a  celebrated  Temple  of  Venus.  Vol.  Max.,  ii.  G. 
D'Anville  thinks  it  the  same  as  the  modern  K?f, 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  141 

the  Romans  at  the  gate,  just  as  they  were  leaving  the  city ; 
culling  to  the  inhabitants,  at  the  same  time,  with  a  loud  voice, 
to  surround  the  cohorts  in  the  rear ;  adding,  that  Fortune,  had 
iruvu  them  an  opportunity  for  a  glorious  exploit;  and  that,  if 
they  took  advantage  of  it,  he  would  henceforth  enjoy  his  king- 
dom, and  they  their  liberty,  without  fear.  And  had  not  Marius 
hastened  to  advance  the  standards,  and  to  escape  from  the  town, 
it  is  certain  that  all,  or  the  greater  part  of  the  inhabitants, 
would  have  changed  their  allegiance ;  so  great  is  the  fickleness 
which  the  Numidiaus  exhibit  in  their  conduct.  The  soldiers  of 
Jugurtha,  animated  for  a  time  by  their  king,  but  finding  the 
enemy  pressing  them  with  superior  force,  betook  themselves, 
aft-.T  losing  a  lew  of  their  number,  to  flight. 

LVII.  Marius  arrived  at  Zama.  This  town,  built  on  a  plain, 
was  better  fortified  by  art  than  by  nature.  It  was  well  supplied 
with  necessaries,  and  contained  plenty  of  arms  and  men.  Me- 
tellus,  having  male  arrangements  suitable  for  the  time  and  the 
place,  encompassed  the  whole  city  with  his  army,  assigning  to 
each  of  his  officers  his  post  of  command.  At  a  given  signal,  a 
loud  shout  was  raised  on  every  side,  but  without  exciting  the 
least  alarm  in  the  Xumidians,  who  awaited  the  attack  full  of 
spirit  and  resolution.  The  assault  was  consequently  commenced ; 
the  Romans  were  allowed  to  act  each  according  to  his  inclina- 
tion ;  some  annoyed  the  enemy  with  slings  and  stones  from  a 
distance  ;  others  came  close  up  to  the  walls,  and  attempted  to 
undermine  or  scale  them,  desiring  to  engage  in  close  combat 
with  the  besieged.  The  Zamiaus,  on  the  other  band,  rolled 
down  stones,  and  hurled  burning  stakes,  javelins,79  and  wood 
smeared  with  pitch  and  sulphur,  on  the  nearest  assailants.  Nor 
was  caution  a  sufficient  protection  to  those  who  kept  aloof;  for 
darts,  discharged  from  engines  or  by  the  hand,  inflicted  wounds 

~"  LVII.  Javelins]  Ptla.  Thispilum  may  have  been,  as  Muller  suggests, 
similar  to  the  falarlca  which  Livy  (xxi.  8)  says  that  the  Saguntines  used 
against  their  besietrers.  Falarica  erat  Sagunlinis,  missile  teliirn  Jiastili  abieg- 
no — id,  slcat  in  pil-i,  quadratum  stuppi  circumligabant,  Unebantque  pice: — 
quod  cum  mtdiiim  ac<en-<><m  mittfretur,  etc.  Of  Sallusfs  other  words,  in  the 
latter  part  of  this  sentence,  the  sense  is  clear,  but  the  readings  of  different 
editors  are  extre-nely  various.  Cortius  and  Gerlach  have  sudet,  ptta  ,»/•'- 
tt-rt-'.t  p'"'<::.i  xiilphure  tt  ta:d<i  mixtam  ardentia  mittere ;  but  it  can  scarcely  bo 
believed  th:it  Salhiet  wrote  picem  -t<rild,  mix'am.  Havercamp  givos  ;>.V<=  <' 
suliih'ire  t (Ei-Jam  miitamardriitla  mifterc,  which  has  been  adopted  by  Kritzius 
and  Piet^ch,  except  that  they  have  changed  arJentia,  on  the  authority  of 
iwiiie  of  tl.o  muiiuscrij'ts,  into  ardcnti. 


142  SALLUST. 

on  most  of  them ;  and  thus  the  brave  and  the  timid,  though 
of  unequal  merit,  were  exposed  to  equal  danger. 

LYIIL  While  the  struggle  was  thus  continued  at  Zama, 
Jugurtha,  at  the  head  of  a  large  force,  suddenly  attacked  the 
camp  of  the  Romans,  and,  through  the  remissness  of  those  left 
to  guard  it,  who  expected  any  thing  rather  than  an  attack, 
effected  an  entrance  at  one  of  the  gates.  Our  men,  struck  with 
sudden  consternation,  acted  each  on  his  own  impulse ;  some 
fled,  others  seized  their  arms  ;  and  many  of  them  were  wounded 
or  slain.  About  forty,  however,  out  of  the  whole  number, 
mindful  of  the  honor  of  Rome,  formed  themselves  into  a  body, 
and  took  possession  of  a  slight  eminence,  from  which  they 
could  not  be  dislodged  by  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  enemy,  but 
hurled  back  the  darts  discharged  at  them,  and,  as  they  were 
few  against  many,  not  without  execution.  If  the  Numidians 
came  near  them,  they  displayed  their  courage,  and  slaughtered, 
repulsed,  and  ^dispersed  them,  with  the  greatest  fury.  Metellus, 
meanwhile,  who  was  vigorously  pursuing  the  siege,  heard  a  noise, 
as  of  enemies,  in  his  rear,  and,  turning  round  his  horse,  per- 
ceived a  party  of  soldiers  in  flight  toward  him ;  a  certain  proof 
that  they  were  his  own  men.  He  instantly,  therefore,  dispatched 
the  whole  of  the  cavalry  to  the  camp,  and  immediately  after- 
ward Caius  Marius,  with  the  cohorts  of  the  allies,  entreating 
him  with  tears,  by  their  mutual  friendship,  and  by  his  regard 
for  the  public  welfare,  to  allow  no  stain  to  rest  on  a  victorious 
army,  and  not  to  let  the  enemy  escape  with  impunity.  Marius 
soon  executed  his  orders.  Jugurtha,  in  consequence,  after  being 
embarrassed  in  the  intrenchments  of  the  camp,  while  some  of 
his  men  threw  themselves  over  the  ramparts,  and  others,  in  their 
haste,  obstructed  each  other  at  the  gates,  fled,  with  considerable 
loss,  to  his  strongholds,  Metellus,  not  succeeding  in  his  attempt 
on  the  town,  retired  with  his  forces,  at  the  approach  of  night, 
into  his  camp. 

LIX.  On  the  following  day,  before  he  marched  out  to  resume 
the  siege,  he  ordered  the  whole  of  his  cavalry  to  take  their  sta- 
tion before  the  camp,  on  the  side  where  the  approach  of  Jugur- 
tha was  to  be  apprehended ;  assigning  the  gates,  and  adjoining 
posts,  to  the  charge  of  the  tribunes.  He  then  marched  toward 
the  town,  and  commenced  an  assault  upon  the  walls  as  on  the 
day  before.  Jugurtha,  meanwhile,  issuing  from  hi?  concealment, 
suddenly  attacked  our  men  iu  the  camp,  of  whom  those  station- 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR  143 

ed  in  advance  were  for  the  moment  alarmed  and  thrown  into 
confusion ;  but  the  rest  soon  came  to  their  support ;  nor  would 
the  Numidians  have  longer  maintained  their  ground,  had  not 
their  foot,  which  were  mingled  with  the  cavalry,  done  great 
execution  in  the  struggle  ;  for  the  horse,  relying  on  the  infantry, 
did  not,  as  is  common  in  actions  of  cavalry,  charge  and  then 
retreat,  but  pressed  impetuously  forward,  disordering  and  break- 
ing the  ranks,  and  thus,  with  the  aid  of  the  light-armed  foot, 
almost  succeeded  in  giving  the  army  a  defeat.80 

LX.  The  conflict  at  Zama,  at  the  same  time,  was  continued 
with  great  fury.  Wherever  any  lieutenant  or  tribune  com- 
manded, there  the  men  exerted  themselves  with  the  utmost 
vigor.  No  one  seemed  to  depend  for  support  on  others,  but 
every  one  on  his  own  exertions.  The  townsmen,  on  the  other 
side,  showed  equal  spirit.  Attacks,  or  preparations  for  defense, 
were  made  in  all  quarters.81  All  appeared  more  eager  to  wound 
their  enemies  than  to  protect  themselves.  Shouts,  mingled  with 
exhortations,  cries  of  joy,  and  the  clashing  of  arms,  resounded 
through  the  heavens.  Darts  flew  thick  on  every  side.  If  the 
besiegers,  however,  in  the  least  relaxed  their  efforts,  the  defenders 
of  the  Avails  immediately  turned  their  attention  to  the  distant 
engagement  of  the  cavalry ;  they  were  to  be  seen  sometimes 
exhibiting  joy,  and  sometimes  apprehension,  according  to  the 
varying  fortune  of  Jugurtha,  and,  as  if  they  could  be  heard  or 
seen  by  their  friends,  uttering  warnings  or  exhortations,  making 
signs  with  their  hands,  and  moving  their  bodies  to  and  fro,  like 
men  avoiding  or  hurling  darts.  This  being  noticed  by  Marius, 
who  commanded  on  that  side  of  the  town,  he  artfully  relaxed 
his  efforts,  as  if  despairing  of  success,  and  allowed  the  besieged 
to  view  the  battle  at  the  camp  unmolested.  Then,  while  their 

80  LIX.  And  thus,  with  the  aid  of  the  light-armed  foot,  almost  succeeded 
In  giving  the  cneuiy_  a  defeat]  Ita  expeditis  pedititnis  snis  hosies  pane  victos 
dare.  Cortius,  Kritzius,  and  Allen,  concur  in  regarding  expeditis  peditibvg 
as  an  ablative  of  the  instrument,  i.  e.  as  equivalent  to  per  expedites pedties, 
and  victos  dare  as  nothing  more  than  mncere.  This  appears  to  be  the  right 
i  mode  of  explanation :  but  most  of  the  translators.  French  as  well  as  Eng- 
lish, have  taken  expeditis peditibus  as  a  dative,  and  given  to  the  passage  the 
sense  that  "  the  cavalry  delivered  up  the  enemy,  when  nearly  conquered,  to 
be  dispatched  by  the  light-armed  foot." 

61  LX.  Attacks,  or  preparations  for  defense,  were  made  in  all  quarters] 
Oppuynare  autparare  omnibus  locis.  There  is  much  discussion  among  the 
critics  whether  these  verbs  are  to  be  referred  to  the  besiegers  or  the  besieged. 
Cortius  and  Gerlach  attribute  uppugnare  to  the  Romans,  im&parare  to  tlio 
men  of  Zama;  a  distinction  which  Kritzius  justly  condemns.  There  cuii 
he  little  doubt  that  they  are  spoken  of  both  parties  equally. 


144  SALLUST. 

attention  was  closely  fixed  on  their  countrymen,  he  made  a 
\-igorous  assault  on  the  wall,  and  the  soldiers  mounting  their 
scaling  ladders,  had  almost  gained  the  top,  when  the  townsmen 
rushed  to  the  spot  in  a  body,  and  hurled  down  upon  them  stones, 
firebrands,  and  every  description  of  missiles.  Our  men  made 
head  against  these  annoyances  for  a  while,  but  at  length,  when 
some  of  the  ladders  were  broken,  and  those  who  had  mounted 
them  dashed  to  the  ground,  the  rest  of  the  assailants  retreated 
as  they  could,  a  few  indeed  unhurt,  but  the  greater  number 
miserably  wounded.  Night  put  an  end  to  the  efforts  of  both 
parties. 

LXI.  When  Metellus  saw  thfitr  all  his  attempts  were  vaia ; 
that  the  town  was  not  to  be  taken ;  that  Jugurtha  was  resolved 
to  abstain  from  fighting,  except  from  an  ambush,  or  on  his  own 
ground,  and  that  the  summer  was  now  far  advanced,  he  with- 
drew his  army  from  Zama,  and  placed  garrisons  in  such  of  the 
cities  that  had  revolted  to  him  as  were  sufficiently  strong  in 
situation  or  fortifications.  The  rest  of  his  forces  he  settled 
in  winter  quarters,  in  that  part  of  our  province  nearest  to 
Numidia.83 

This  season  of  repose,  however,  he  did  not,  like  other  com- 
manders, abandon  to  idleness  and  luxury ;  but  as  the  war  had 
been  but  slowly  advanced  by  fighting,  he  resolved  to  try  the 
effect  of  treachery  on  the  king  through  his  friends,  and  to  employ 
their  perfidy  instead  of  arms.  He  accordingly  addressed  himself 
with  large  promises,  to  Bomilcar,  the  same  nobleman  who  had 
been  with  Jugurtha  at  Rome,  and  who  had  fled  from  thence, 
notwithstanding  he  had  given  bail,  to  escape  being  tried  for  the 
murder  of  Massiva ;  selecting  this  person  for  his  instrument, 
because,  from  his  great  intimacy  with  Jugurtha,  he  had  the  best 
opportunities  of  betraying  him.  lie  prevailed  on  him,  in  the 
first  place,  to  come  to  a  conference  with  him  privately,  when, 
having  given  him  his  word,  "  that,  if  he  should  deliver  up 
Jugurtha,  alive  or  dead,  the  senate  would  grant  him  a  pardon, 

"  LXI.  Tho  rest  of  his  forces — in  that  part  of  our  province  nearest  to  Nu- 
midin]  Gxtervm  exercitum  inprovinciam,  qua  proximo,  est  Numidi<z,  Memandi 
gratia  collocat.  "The  words  quonproc ima  tut  -V< •?///<//:.•  ('ortius  would  eject 
as  superfluous  and  spurious.  But  it  is  to  be  understood  that  Metellus  did 
not  distribute  his  troops  through  the  whole  of  the  province,  but  in  that  par'; 
which  is  nearest  to  Numidia,  in  order  that  they  might  be  easily  assembled 
in  case  of  an  attack  of  the  enemy  or  any  other  emergency.  There  is,  there- 
fore, no  need  to  read  with  the  BipOQt  edition  and  Miiller,  qua,proxima,<&Q. 
though  this  is  in  itself  not  a  bad  conjecture."  Kritsiu-s. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR  145 

ftnd  the  full  possession  of  his  property,"  he  easily  brought  him 
over  to  his  purpose,  especially  as  he  was  naturally  faithless,  and 
also  apprehensive  that,  if  peace  were  made  with  the  Romans, 
he  himself  would  be  surrendered  to  justice  by  the  terms  of  it. 

LXII.  Bomilcar  took  the  earliest  opportunity  of  addressing 
Jugurtha,  at  a  time  when  he  was  full  of  anxiety,  and  lamenting 
his  ill  success.  He  exhorted  and  implored  him,  with  tears  in  his 
eyes,  to  take  at  length  some  thought  for  himself  and  his  chil- 
dren, as  well  as  for  the  people  of  Numidia,  who  had  so  much 
claim  upon  him.  He  reminded  him  that  they  had  been 
defeated  in  every  battle ;  that  the  country  was  laid  waste ;  that 
numbers  of  his  subjects  had  been  captured  or  slain  ;  that  the 
resources  of  the  kingdom  were  greatly  reduced ;  that  the  valor 
of  his  soldiers,  and  his  own  fortune,  had  been  already  suffi- 
ciently tried ;  and  that  he  should  beware,  lest,  if  he  delayed  to 
consult  for  his  people,  his  people  should  consult  for  themselves. 
By  these  and  similar  appeals,  he  prevailed  with  Jugurtha  to 
think  of  a  surrender.  Embassadors  were  accordingly  sent  to 
the  Roman  general,  announcing  that  Jugurtha  was  ready  to 
submit  to  whatever  he  should  desire,  and  to  trust  himself  and 
his  kingdom  unconditionally  to  his  honor.  Metellus,  on  receiving 
this  statement,  summoned  such  of  his  officers  as  were  of  sena- 
torial rank,  from  their  winter  quarters ;  of  whom,  with  others 
whom  he  thought  eligible,  he  formed  a  council.  By  a  resolu- 
tion of  this  assembly,  in  conformity  with  ancient  usage,  he  de- 
manded of  Jugurtha,  through  his  embassadors,  two  hundred 
thousand  pounds'  weight  of  silver,  all  his  elephants,  and  a  por- 
tion of  his  horses  and  arms.  These  requisitions  being  imme- 
diately complied  with,  he  next  desired  that  all  the  deserters 
should  be  brought  to  him  in  chains.  A  large  number  of  them 
were  accordingly  brought ;  but  a  few,  when  the  surrender 
hrst  began  to  be  mentioned,  had  fled  into  Mauretania  to  king 
Boochus. 

When  Jugurtha,  however,  after  being  thus  despoiled  of  arms, 
men  and  money,  was  summoned  to  appear  in  person  at  Tis- 
idiuni,"  to  await  the  consul's  commands,  he  began  again  to 
change  his  mind,  dreading,  from  a  consciousness  of  guilt,  the 

f3  LXII.  Was  summoned  to  appear  in  person  nt  Tisidium,  etc.]  Cam  ijift 
ad  impfrandum  Tisidium  vocnretnr.  The  gerund  is  used,  as  srrammarians 
suy,  in  u  passive  sense.  "The  town  of  Tisidium  is  nowhere  else  mentioned. 
Stralx>  fxvii.  3,  p.  488,  Ed.  Tauch.)  speaks  of  a  place  named  Ttaiatol, 
M-l:ic!i  was  utterly  destroyed,  and  not  a  vestige  of  it  left."  Gerlach. 


146  SALLUST. 

punishment  due  to  his  crimes.  Having  spent  several  days  in 
hesitation,  sometimes,  from  disgust  at  his  ill  success,  believing 
any  thing  better  than  war,  and  sometimes  considering  with 
himself  how  grievous  would  be  the  fall  from  sovereignty  to 
slavery,  he  at  last  determined,  notwithstanding  that  he  had 
lost  so  many  and  so  valuable  means  of  resistance,  to  commence 
hostilities  anew. 

At  Rome,  meanwhile,  the  senate,  having  been  consulted 
about  the  provinces,  had  decreed  Numiclia  to  Metellus. 

LXIII.  About  the  same  time,  as  Caius  Marius,  who  hap- 
pened to  be  at  Utica,  was  sacrificing  to  the  gods,84  an  augur 
told  him  that  great  and  wonderful  things  were  presaged  to 
him  ;  that  he  might  therefore  pursue  whatever  designs  he  had 
formed,  trusting  to  the  gods  for  success ;  and  that  he  might 
try  fortune  as  often  as  he  pleased,  for  that  all  his  undertakings 
would  prosper.  Previously  to  this  period  an  ardent  longing 
for  the  consulship  had  possessed  him ;  and  he  had,  indeed, 
every  qualification  for  obtaining  it,  except  antiquity  of  family  ; 
he  had  industry,  integrity,  great  knowledge  of  war,  and  a  spirit 
undaunted  in  the  field ;  he  was  temperate  in  private  life,  su- 
perior to  pleasure  and  riches,  and  ambitious  only  of  glory. 
Having  been  born  at  Arpinum,  and  brought  up  there  during 
his  boyhood,  he  employed  himself,  as  soon  as  he  was  of  age  to 
bear  arms,  not  in  the  study  of  Greek  eloquence,  nor  in  learn- 
ing the  refinements  of  the  city,  but  in  military  service ;  and 
thus,  amid  the  strictest  discipline,  his  excellent  genius  soon  at- 
tained full  vigor.  When  lie  solicited  the  people,  therefore,  for 
the  military  tribuneship,  he  was  well  known  by  name,  though 
most  were  strangers  to  his  face,  and  unanimously  elected  by 
the  tribes.  After  this  office  lie  attained  others  in  succession, 
and  conducted  himself  so  well  in  his  public  duties,  that  he  was 
always  deemed  worthy  of  a  higher  station  than  he  had  reached. 
Yet,  though  such  had  been  his  character  hitherto  (for  he  was 
afterward  carried  away  by  ambition),  he  had  not  ventured  to 
stand  for  the  consulship.  The  people,  at  that  time,  still  dis- 

w  LXIII.  Sacrificing  to  the  gods]  Per  hostiaa  d\$  supplicante.  Supplicat- 
ing or  worshiping  the  gods  with  sacrifices,  and  trying  to  learn  their  inten- 
tions as  to  the  future  by  inspection  of  the  entrails.  "  Marius  was  either  a 
sincere  believer  in  the  absurd  superstitions  and  dreainB  of  the  soothsayer*, 
or  pretended  to  be  so,  from  a  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  mankind,  who 
are  eager  to  listen  to  wonders,  and  are  more  willing  to  be  deceived  than  to 
be  taught."  Burnouf.  See  Plutarch,  Life  of  Marius.  He  could  interpret 
smeus  for  himself,  according  to  Valerius  Maximus,  i.  5. 


THE  JUGUBTHINE  WAR.  147 

posed  of5  other  civil  offices,  but  the  nobility  transmitted  the 
consulship  from  hand  to  hand  among  themselves.  Nor  had 
any  commoner  appeared,  however  famous  or  distinguished  by 
his  achievements,  who  would  not  have  been  thought  unworthy 
of  that  honor,  and,  as  it  were,  a  disgrace  to  it.89 

LXIV.  But  when  Marius  found  that  the  words  of  the  augur 
pointed  in  the  same  direction  as  his  own  inclinations  prompted 
him,  he  requested  of  Metellus  leave  of  absence,  that  he  might 
offer  himself  a  candidate  for  the  consulship.  Metellus,  though 
eminently  distinguished  by  virtue,  honor,  and  other  qualities 
valued  by  the  good,  had  yet  a  haughty  and  disdainful  spirit, 
the  common  failing  of  the  nobility.  He  was  at  first,  therefore, 
astonished  at  so  extraordinary  an  application,  expressed  sur- 
prise at  Marius's  views,  and  advised  him,  as  if  in  friendship, 
"  not  to  indulge  such  unreasonable  expectations,  or  elevate  his 
thoughts  above  his  station  ;  that  all  things  were  not  to  be  cov- 
eted by  all  men  ;  that  his  present  condition  ought  to  satisfy 
him  ;  and,  finally,  that  he  should  be  cautious  of  asking  from 
the  Roman  people  what  they  might  justly  refuse  him."  Hav- 
ing made  these  and  similar  remarks,  and  finding  that  the  reso- 
lution of  Marius  was  not  at  all  affected  by  them,  he  told  him 
"  that  he  would  grant  what  he  desired  as  soon  as  the  public 
business  would  allow  him."87  On  Marius  repeating  his  request 
several  times  afterward,  he  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  that  he 
need  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  go,  as  he  would  be  soon  enough  if 
he  became  a  candidate  with  his  own  son."88  Metellus's  son 
was  then  on  service  in  the  camp  with  his  father,89  and  was 
about  twenty  years  old. 

This  taunt  served  only  to  rouse  the  feelings  of  Marius,  as 

85  The  people — disposed  of,  etc.]  Etiam  turn  alias  magistratus plebes,  con- 
fulttum  nobttitas,  inter  se  per  manu-s  tradebat.  The  commentators  have  seen 
the  necessity  of  understanding  a  verb  with  plebes.  Kritzius  suggests  habebat ; 
Gerlach  greoat  or  accipiebat. 

84  A  disgrace  to  it]  Pottutus.  He  -was  considered,  as  it  were,  unclean. 
See  Cat.,  c.  23,  fin. 

87  LXIV.  As  soon  as  the  public  business  would  allow  him]  Uf/ivrimum 
fohtlsset  per  negotia  publica.    As  soon  as  he  could  through  (regard  to)  the 
public  business. 

88  With  his  own  son]  Cumfiliosuo.    With  the  son  of  Metellus.     He  tells 
Marius  that  it  would  be  soon  enough  for  him  to  stand  for  the  consulship  in 
tweuty-three  years'  time,  the  legitimate  age  for  the  consulship  being  forty- 
three. 

**  In  the  camp  with  his  father]  Contubernio  patris.  He  was  among  the 
young  noblemen  in  the  consul's  retinue,  who  were  sent  out  to  see  military 
service  under  him.  This  was  customary.  Sec  Cic.  1'ro  Coel.  30 ;  Pro  i'lanc.  11. 


148  SALLUST. 

well  for  the  honor  at  which  he  aimed,  as  against  Metellus. 
lie  suffered  himself  to  be  actuated,  therefore,  l>y  ambition  and 
resentment,  the  worst  of  counselors.  He  omitted  nothing 
henceforward,  either  in  deeds  or  words,  that  could  increase  his 
own  popularity.  He  allowed  the  soldiers,  of  whom  he  had  the 
command  in  the  winter  quarters,  more  relaxation  of  discipline 
than  he  had  ever  granted  them  before.  He  talked  of  the  war 
among  the  merchants,  of  whom  there  was  a  great  number  at 
Utica,  censoriously  with  respect  to  Metellus,  and  vauntingly 
with  regard  to  himself;  saying  "that  if  but  half  of  the  army 
were  granted  him,  he  would  in  a  few  days  have  Jugurtha  in 
chains ;  but  that  the  war  was  purposely  protracted  by  the  con- 
sul, because,  being  a  man  of  vanity  and  regal  pride,  he  was  too 
fond  of  the  delights  of  power."  All  these  assertions  appeared 
the  more  credible  to  the  merchants,  as,  by  the  long  continuance 
of  the  war,  they  had  suffered  in  their  fortunes ;  and  to  impa- 
tient minds  no  haste  is  sufficient. 

LXV.  There  was  then  in  our  army  a  Numidian  named 
Gauda,  the  son  of  Mastanabal,  and  grandson  of  Masinissa, 
whom  Micipsa,  in  his  will,  had  appointed  next  heir  to  his  im- 
mediate successors.  This  man  had  been  debilitated  by  ill-health, 
and,  from  the  effect  of  it,  was  somewhat  impaired  in  his  under- 
standing. He  had  petitioned  Metellus  to  allow  him  &  seat, 
like  a  prince,  next  to  himself,  and  a  troop  of  horse  for  a  body- 
guard ;  but  Metellus  had  refused  him  both ;  the  seat,  because, 
it  was  granted  only  to  those  whom  the  Roman  people  had  ad- 
dressed as  kings,  and  the  guard,  because  it  would  be  an  indig- 
nity to  Roman  cavalry  to  act  as  guards  to  a  Numidian. 
While  Gauda  was  discontented  at  these  refusals,  Marius  paid 
him  a  visit,  and  prompted  him,  with  his  assistance,  to  seek 
revenge  for  the  affronts  put  upon  him  by  the  general ;  in- 
flating his  mind,  which  was  as  weak  as  his  body,90  with  flatter- 
ing speeches,  telling  him  that  he  was  a  prince,  a  groat  man, 
and  the  grandson  of  Masinissa ;  that  if  Jugurtha  were  taken 
or  killed,  he  would  immediately  become  king  of  Numidia;  and 
that  this  event  might  soon  happen,  if  he  himself  were  sent  as 
consul  to  the  war. 

Thus  partly  the  influence  of  Marius  himself,  and  partly  the 
liope  of  obtaining  peace,  induced  Gauda,  as  well  as  most  of 

80  LXV.  Which  was  as  weak  as  his  body]  Ob  morbos—parum  •valido. 
Sullust  hud  already  expressed  this  a  few  lines  above. 


THE  JUGURTTIINE  WAR.  i.jg 

the  Roman  knights,  both  soldiers  and  merchants,91  to  write 
to  their  friends  at  Rome,  in  a  style  of  censure,  respecting  Mc- 
tellus's  management  of  the  war,  and  to  intimate  that  Marius 
should  be  appointed  general.  The  consulship,  accordingly,  was 
solicited  for  him  by  numbers  of  people,  with  the  most  honor- 
able demonstrations  in  his  favor."  It  happened  that  the  people 
too,  at  this  juncture,  having  just  triumphed  over  the  nobility  by 
the  Mamilian  law,03  were  eager  to  raise  commoners  to  office. 
Hence  every  thing  was  favorable  to  Marius's  views. 

LXVI.  Jugurtha,  meantime,  who,  after  relinquishing  his 
intention  to  surrender,  had  renewed  the  war,  was  now  hasten- 
ing the  preparations  for  it  with  the  utmost  diligence.  He 
assembled  an  army  ;  he  endeavored,  by  threats  or  promises,  to 
recover  the  towns  that  had  revolted  from  him  ;  he  fortified  ad- 
vantageous positions  ;M  he  repaired  or  purchased  arms,  weapons, 
and  other  necessaries,  which  he  had  given  up  on  the  prospect 
of  peace ;  he  tried  to  seduce  the  slaves  of  the  Romans,  and 
even  tempted  with  bribes  the  Romans  themselves  who  occupied 
the  garrisons ;  he,  indeed,  left  nothing  untried  or  neglected, 
but  put  every  engine  in  motion. 

Induced  by  the  entreaties  of  their  king,  from  whom,  indeed, 
they  had  never  been  alienated  in  affection,  the  leading  inhabit- 
ants of  Vacca,  a  city  in  which  Metellus,  when  Jugurtha  began 
to  treat  for  peace,  had  placed  a  garrison,  entered  into  a  con- 
spiracy against  the  Romans.  As  for  the  common  people  of  the 
town,  they  were,  as  is  generally  the  case,  and  especially  among 
the  Numidians,  of  a  fickle  disposition,  factious  and  turbulent, 
and  therefore  already  desirous  of  a  change,  and  adverse  to 
peace  and  quiet.  Having  arranged  their  plans,  they  fixed  upon 
the  third  day  following  for  the  execution  of  them,  because  that 
day,  being  a  festival,  celebrated  throughout  Africa,  would 
promise  merriment  and  dissipation  rather  than  alarm.  When 
the  time  came,  they  invited  the  centurions  and  military  tii- 

_<"  Merchants]  Negotiatores.  "  Every  one  knows  that  Romans  of  eques- 
trian dipiity  were  accustomed  to  trade  in  the  provinces."  Burnouf. 

w  "With  the  most  honorable  demonstrations  in  his  favor]  Honeatissima, 
suffragaKane.  "  Svffragaiie  was  the  zealous  recommendation  of  those  who 
solicited  the  votes  of  their  fellow-citizens  in  favor  of  some  candidate.  See 
Festus,  s.  v.  Sijfragatores,  p.  266,  Lindem."  Dietsch.  It  was  honorable,  in 
the  case  of  Manus,  as  it  was  without  bribery,  and  seemed  to  have  the  good 
of  the  republic  in  view. 

"  The  Mamilian  law]  See  c.  40. 

M  LXVI.  Advantageous  positions]  Suos  locos.  Places  favorable  for  his 
views.  See  Kritzius  on  c.  54. 


1 50  SALLUST. 

bunes,  with  Titus  Turpilius  Silanus,  the  governor  of  the  town, 
to  their  several  houses,  and  butchered  them  all,  except  Tur- 
pilius, at  their  banquets ;  and  then  fell  upon  the  common  sol- 
diers, who,  as  was  to  be  expected  on  such  a  day,  when  discipline 
was  relaxed,  were  wandering  about  without  their  arms.  Tho 
populace  followed  the  example  of  their  chiefs,  some  of  them 
having  been  previously  instructed  to  do  so,  and  others  induced 
by  a  liking  for  such  disorders,  and,  though  ignorant  of  what 
had  been  done  or  intended,  finding  sufficient  gratification  in 
tumult  and  variety. 

LXVII.  The  Roman  soldiers,  perplexed  with  sudden  alarm, 
and  not  knowing  what  was  best  for  them  to  do,  were  in  trepi- 
dation. At  the  citadel,85  where  their  standards  and  shields 
were,  was  posted  a  guard  of  the  enemy ;  and  the  city-gates, 
previously  closed,  prevented  escape.  Women  and  children, 
too,  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses,66  hurled  down  upon  them,  with 
great  eagerness,  stones  and  whatever  else  their  position  fur- 
nished. Thus  neither  could  such  twofold  danger  be  guarded 
against,  nor  could  the  bravest  resist  the  feeblest ;  the  worthy 
and  the  worthless,  the  valiant  and  the  cowardly,  were  alike  put 
to  death  unavenged.  In  the  midst  of  this  slaughter,  while  the 
Numidians  were  exercising  every  cruelty,  and  the  town  was 
closed  on  all  sides,  Turpilius  was  the  only  one,  of  all  the  Ita- 
lians, that  escaped  unhurt.  Whether  his  flight  was  the  conse- 
quence of  compassion  in  his  entertainer,  of  compact,  or  of 
chance,  I  have  never  discovered  ;  but  since,  in  such  a  general 
massacre,  he  preferred  inglorious  safety  to  an  honorable  name, 
he  seems  to  have  been  a  worthless  and  infamous  character.87 

LXVIII.  When  Metellus  heard  of  what  had  happened  at 
Vacca,  he  retired  for  a  time,  overpowered  with  sorrow,  from 
the  public  gaze ;  but  at  length,  as  indignation  mingled  with  his 

05  LXVIT.  Were  in  trepidation.  At  the  citadel,  etc.]  I  have  translated 
this  passage  in  conformity  with  the  texts  of  Gerlach,  Kritzins,  Dietsch, 
M  tiller,  and  Allen,  who  put  a  point  between  trepid-are  and  ad  arcem.  Cor- 
tius,  Havercamp,  and  Burnout  have  trepidare  ad  arcem,  without  any  point. 
Which  method  gives  the  better  sense,  any  reader  can  judge. 

°"  On  the  roofs  of  the  houses]  Pro  tect-is  (Kdiftciorum.  In  front  of  the 
roofs  of  the  houses  ;  that  is,  at  the  parapets.  '!  In  prima  tectorum  parte." 
Kritzvus.  The  roofs  were  flat. 

«7  Worthless  and  infamous  character]  Improbus  intestabilisque.  These 
words  are  taken  from  the  twelve  tables  of  the  Koman  law :  See  Aul.  Gell.  vi. 
7 ;  xv.  8.  Horace,  in  allusion  to  them,  has  intestoMlis  et  sacer,  Sat.  ii.  3. 181. 
Intestabilia  signified  a  person  to  be  of  so  infamous  a  character  that  he  was 
not  allowed  to  give  evidence  in  a  court  of  justice. 


THE  JUGTJRTHTNE  WAR.  151 

grief,  he  hastened,  with  the  utmost  spirit,  to  take  vengeance  for 
the  outrage.  He  led  forth,  at  sunset,  the  legion  that  was  in 
winter  quarters  with  him,  and  as  many  Numidian  horse  as  he 
could,  and  arrived,  about  the  third  hour  on  the  following  day, 
nt  a  certain  plain  surrounded  by  rising  grounds.  Here  he  ac- 
quainted the  soldiers,  who  were  now  exhausted  with  the  length 
of  their  march,  and  averse  to  further  exertion,98  that  the  town 
of  Vacca  was  not  above  a  mile  distant ,  and  that  it  became 
them  to  bear  patiently  the  toil  that  remained,  with  the  hope  of 
exacting  revenge  for  their  countrymen,  the  bravest  and  most 
unfortunate  of  men.  He  likewise  generously  promised  them 
the  whole  of  the  plunder.  Their  courage  being  thus  revived, 
he  ordered  them  to  resume  their  march,  the  cavalry  maintain- 
ing an  extended  line  in  front,  and  the  infantry,  with  their  stand- 
ards concealed,  keeping  the  closest  order  behind. 

LXIX.  The  people  of  Vacca,  perceiving  an  army  coming 
toward  them,  judged  rightly  at  first  that  it  was  Metellus,  and 
shut  their  gates ;  but,  after  a  while,  when  they  saw  that  their 
fields  were  not  laid  waste,  and  that  the  front  consisted  of  Nu- 
midian  cavalry,  they  imagined  that  it  was  Jugurtha,  and  went 
out  with  great  joy  to  meet  him.  A  signal  being  immediately 
given,  both  cavalry  and  infantry  commenced  an  attack  ;  some 
cut  down  the  multitude  pouring  from  the  town,  others  hurried 
to  the  gates,  others  secured  the  towers,  revenge  and  the  hope 
of  plunder  prevailing  over  their  weariness.  Thus  Vacca 
triumphed  only  two  days  in  its  treachery  ;  the  whole  city, 
which  was  great  and  opulent,  was  given  up  to  vengeance  and 
spoliation.  Turpilius,  the  governor,  whom  we  mentioned  as 
the  only  person  that  escaped,  was  summoned  by  Metellus  to 
answer  for  his  conduct,  and  not  being  able  to  clear  himself, 
was  condemned,  as  a  native  of  Latium,99  to  be  scourged  and 
put  to  death. 

98  LXVIII.  Averse  to  further  exertion]  Turn  abnuentes  omnia.  Most  of 
the  translators  have  understood  by  these  words  that  the  troops  refused  to 
obey  orders  ;  but  Sallust's  meaning  is  only  that  they  expressed,  by  looks 
and  gestures,  their  unwillingness  to  proceed. 

»»  LXIX  As  a  native  of  Latium]  Aam  is  civis  ex,  Latlo  erat.  "  As  he  was 
a  Latin,  he  was  not  protected  by  the  Porcian  law  (see  Cat.,  c.  51),  though 
how  far  this  law  had  power  in  the  camp,  is  not  agreed."  Allen.  Gerlach 
thinks  that  it  had  the  same  power  in  the  camp  as  elsewhere,  with  reference 
to  Roman  citizens.  But  Roman  citizenship  was  not  extended  to  the  Latins 
till  the  end  of  the  Social  War,  A.TT.C.  662.  Plutarch,  however,  in  his  Life 
of  Cains  Gracchus  (c.  9),  speaks  of  Livius  Drusus  having  been  abetted  by 
the  patricians  in  proposing  a  law  for  exempting  the  Latin  soldiers  from 


152  SALLUST. 

LXX.  About  this  time,  Bomilcar,  at  whose  persuasion  Ju- 
gurtha had  entered  upon  the  capitulation  which  he  had  discon- 
tinued through  fear,  being  distrusted  by  the  king,  and  distrust- 
ing him  in  return,  grew  desirous  of  a  change  of  government, 
lie  accordingly  meditated  schemes  for  Jugurtha's  destruction, 
racking  his  invention  night  and  day.  At  last,  to  leave  nothing 
untried,  he  sought  an  accomplice  in  Nabdalsa,  a  man  of  noble 
birth  and  great  Avealth,  who  was  in  high  regard  and  favor  with 
his  countrymen,  and  who,  on  most  occasions,  used  to  command 
a  body  of  troops  distinct  from  those  of  the  king,  and  to  trans- 
act all  business  to  which  Jugurtha,  from  fatigue,  or  from  being 
occupied  with  more  important  matters,  was  unable  to  attend;1 
employments  by  whicli  he  had  gained  both  honors  and  wealth. 
By  these  two  men  in  concert,  a  day  was  fixed  for  the  execution 
of  their  treachery ;  succeeding  matters  they  agreed  to  settle 
as  the  exigences  of  the  moment  might  require.  Nabdalsa 
then  proceeded  to  join  his  troops,  which  he  kept  in  readiness, 
according  to  orders,  among  the  winter  quarters  of  the  Romans," 
to  prevent  the  country  from  being  ravaged  by  the  enemy  with 
impunity. 

But  as  Nabdalsa,  growing  alarmed  at  the  magnitude  of  the 

being  flogged,  about  thirty  vears  earlier ;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  passed, 
but,  from  this  passage  of  Sallnst,  appears  not  to  have  remained  in  force. 
Lipsius  touches  on  this  obscure  point  in  his  Militia  Itomana,  v.  18,  but 
settles  nothing. 

Plutarch,  in  his  Life  of  Marius,  c.  8,  says  that  Turpilius  was  an  old  re- 
tainer of  the  family  of  Metellus,  whom  he  attended,  in  this  war,  as  prce- 
fectus  f  (thrum,  or  master  of  the  artificers ;  that,  being  afterward  appointed 
governor  of  Vacca,  he  exercised  his  office  with  great  justice  and  humanity; 
that  his  life  was  spared  by  Jugurtha  at  the  solicitation  of  the  inhabitants  ; 
that,  when  he  was  brought  to  trial,  Metellus  thought  him  innocent,  and 
that  he  would  not  have  been  condemned  but  for  the  malice  of  Marius,  who 
exasperated  the  other  members  of  the  council  against  him.  He  adds,  that 
after  his  death,  his  innocence  became  apparent,  and  that  Marius  boasted  of 
having  planted  in  the  breast  of  Metellus  an  avenging  fury,  that  would  not 
fail  to  torment  him  for  having  put  to  death  the  innocent  friend  of  his 
family.  Hence  Sir  Henry  Steuart  has  accused  Sallnst  of  wilfully  misrepre- 
senting the  character  of  Turpilius,  as  well  as  the  whole  transaction.  Butaa 
1  much  credit  is  surely  due  to  Sallust  as  to  Plutarch. 

1  LXX.  To  which  Jugurtha — was  unable  to  attend]  Qua  JngartJi(E,fe*so, 
aut  majorlbus  astrido,  svperaverant.  "  Whicli  had  remained  to  (or  been  too 
much  for)  Jugurtha,  when  weary,  or  engaged  in  more  important  affairs." 

3  Among  the  winter-quarters  of  the  Romans]  Inter  "hiberna  Romanorum. 
It  is 
armj 
of  jugr 

being  thus  dispersed,  Nabdalsa  might  justly  be  said  to  have  his  army  inter 
/li/itrnti,  "among  their  winter-quarters." 


THE  JUflURTniNE  WAR.  153 

undertaking^  failed  to  appear  at  the  appointed  time,  and  al- 
lowed his  fears  to  hinder  their  plans,  Bomilear,  eager  for  their 
execution,  and  disquieted  at  the  timidity  of  his  associate,  lest 
he  should  relinquish  his  original  intentions  and  adopt  some 
new  course,  sent  him  a  letter  by  some  confidential  person,  in 
which  he  "  reproached  him  with  pusillanimity  and  irresolution, 
and  conjured  him  by  the  gods,  by  whom  he  had  sworn,  not  to 
turn  the  offers  of  Metellus  to  his  own  destruction ;"  assuring 
him  "  that  the  fall  of  Jugurtha  was  approaching ;  that  the 
only  thing  to  be  considered  was  whether  he  should  perish  by 
their  hand  or  by  that  of  Metellus ;  and  that,  in  consequence, 
he  might  consider  whether  to  chooss  rewards,  or  death  by 
torture." 

LXXI.  It  happened  that  when  this  letter  was  brought,  Nab- 
dalsa,  overcome  with  fatigue,  was  reposing  on  his  couch,  where, 
after  reading  Bomilcar's  letter,  anxiety  at  first,  and  afterward, 
as  is  usual  with  a  troubled  mind,  sleep  overpowered  him.  In 
his  service  there  was  a  certain  Numidian,  the  manager  of  his 
affairs,  a  person  who  possessed  his  confidence  and  esteem,  and 
who  was  acquainted  with  all  his  designs  except  the  last.  lie, 
hearing  that  a  letter  had  arrived,  and  supposing  that  there 
would  be  occasion,  as  usual,  for  his  assistance  or  suggestions, 
went  into  the  tent,  and,  while  his  master  was  asleep,  took  up 
the  letter  thrown  carelessly  upon  the  cushion  behind  his  head,3 
and  read  it ;  and,  having  thus  discovered  the  plot,  set  off  in 
haste  to  Jugurtha.  Nabdalsa,  who  awoke  soon  after,  missing 
the  letter,  and  hearing  of  the  whole  affair,  and  how  it  had  hap- 
pened, at  first  attempted  to  pursue  the  informer,  but  finding  that 
pursuit  was  vain,  he  went  himself  to  Jugurtha  to  try  to  appease 
him ;  saying  that  the  disclosure  which  he  intended  to  make, 
ha  1  been  anticipated  by  the  perfidy  of  his  servant ;  and  beseech- 
ing him  with  tears,  by  his  friendship,  and  by  his  own  former 
proofs  of  fidelity,  not  to  think  that  he  could  be  guilty  of  such 
treachery. 

LXXII.  To  these  entreaties  the  king  replied  with  a  mildness 
far  different  from  his  real  feelings.  After  putting  to  death  Bo- 
mi  Icar,  and  many  others  whom  he  knew  to  be  privy  to  the  plot, 
he  refrained  from  any  further  manifestation  of  resentment,  lest 
an  insurrection  should  be  the  consequence  of  it.  But  after  this 

3  LXXI.  Behind  his  head]  Super  cnput.  On  the  hack  of  the  holster  that 
supported  his  head  ;  part  of  which  might  be  higher  than  the  head  itself. 

T* 


1 54  SALLUST. 

occurrence  he  had  no  peace  either  by  day  or  by  night ;  he 
thought  himself  safe  neither  in  any  place,  nor  with  any  person, 
nor  at  any  time  ;  he  feared  his  subjects  and  his  enemies  alike  ; 
he  was  always  on  the  watch,  and  was  startled  at  every  sound  ; 
he  passed  the  night  sometimes  in  one  place,  and  sometimes  in 
another,  and  often  in  places  little  suited  to  royal  dignity ;  and 
sometimes,  starting  from  his  sleep,  he  would  seize  his  arms  and 
raise  an  alarm,  lie  was  indeed  so  agitated  by  extreme  terror, 
that  he  appeared  under  the  influence  of  madness. 

LXXIII.  Metellus,  hearing  from  some  deserters  of  the  fate 
of  Bomilcar,  and  the  discovery  of  the  conspiracy,  made  fresh 
preparations  for  action,  and  with  the  utmost  dispatch,  as  if  en- 
tering upon  an  entirely  new  war.  Marius,  who  was  still  impor- 
tuning him  for  leave  of  absence,  he  allowed  to  go  home ;  think- 
ing that  as  he  served  with  reluctance,  and  bore  him  personal 
enmity,  he  was  not  likely  to  prove  a  very  useful  officer. 

The  common  people  at  Rome,  having  learned  the  contents  of 
the  letters  written  from  Africa  concerning  Metellus  and  Marius, 
had  listened  to  the  accounts  given  of  both  with  eagerness.  But 
the  noble  birth  of  Metellus,  which  had  previously  been  a  motive 
for  paying  him  honor,  had  now  become  a  cause  of  unpopular- 
ity ;  while  the  obscurity  of  Marius's  origin  had  procured  him 
favor.  In  regard  to  both,  however,  party  feeling  had  more  in- 
fluence than  the  good  or  bad  qualities  of  either.  The  factious 
tribunes,4  too,  inflamed  the  populace,  charging  Metellus,  in  their 
harangues,  with  offenses  worthy  of  death,  and  exaggerating  the 
excellent  qualities  of  Marius.  At  length  the  people  were  so  ex- 
cited that  all  the  artisans  and  rustics,  whose  whole  subsistence 
and  credit  depended  on  their  labor,  quitting  their  several  em- 
ployments, attended  Marius  in  crowds,  and  thought  less  of  their 
own  wants  than  of  his  exaltation.  Thus  the  nobility  being 
borne  down,  the  consulship,  after  the  lapse  of  many  years,5  was 
once  more  given  to  a  man  of  humble  birth.  And  afterward, 
when  the  people  were  asked  by  Manilius  Mancinus,  one  of  their 
tribunes,  whom  they  would  appoint  to  carry  on  the  war  against 
Jugurtha,  they,  in  a  fuh1  assembly,  voted  it  to  Marius.  The 


*  LXXIII.  The  factious  tribunes]  Sedltwsi  magistrates. 

•  After  the  lapse  of  many  yearsj  Post  multas  tempestates.    Apparently 
the  period  since  A.U.C.  611,  when  Quintus  Pompeius,  who,  as  Cicero  says 
(in  Verr.  ii.  5),  was  humile  atque  obscuro  loco  natus,  obtained  the  consulship ; 
that  is,  a  term  of  forty-three  or  forty-four  years. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  165 

senate  had  previously  decreed  it  to  Metellus ;  but  that  decree 
was  thus  rendered  abortive.6 

LXXIV.  During  this  period,  Jugurtha,  as  he  was  bereft  of 
his  friends  (of  whom  he  had  put  to  death  the  greater  number, 
while  the  rest,  under  the  influence  of  terror,  had  fled  partly  to 
the  Romans,  and  partly  to  Bocchus),  as  the  war,  too,  could  not 
be  carried  on  without  officers,  and  as  he  thought  it  dangerous 
to  try  the  faith  of  new  ones  after  such  perfidy  among  the  old, 
was  involved  in  doubt  and  perplexity ;  no  scheme,  no  counsel, 
no  person  could  satisfy  him  ;  he  changed  his  route  and  his  cap- 
tains daily ;  he  hurried  sometimes  against  the  enemy,  and  some- 
times toward  the  deserts ;  depended  at  one  time  on  flight,  and 
at  another  on  resistance ;  and  was  unable  to  decide  whether  he 
could  less  trust  the  courage  or  the  fidelity  of  his  subjects.  Thus, 
in  whatever  direction  he  turned  his  thoughts,  the  prospect  was 
equally  disheartening. 

In  the  midst  of  his  irresolution,  Metellus  suddenly  made  his 
appearance  with  his  army.  The  Numidians  were  assembled 
and  drawn  up  by  Jugurtha,  as  well  as  time  permitted  ;  and  a 
battle  was  at  once  commenced.  Where  the  king  commanded 
in  person,  the  struggle  was  maintained  for  some  time  ;  but  the 
rest  of  his  force  was  routed  and  put  to  flight  at  the  first  onset. 
The  Romans  took  a  considerable  number  of  standards  and  arms, 
but  not  many  prisoners  ;  for,  in  almost  every  battle,  their  feet 
afforded  more  security  to  the  Numidians  than  their  swords. 

LXXV.  In  consequence  of  this  defeat,  Jugurtha,  feeling  less 
confidence  in  the  state  of  his  affairs  than  ever,  retreated  with 
the  deserters,  and  part  of  his  cavalry,  first  into  the  deserts,  and 
afterward  to  Thala,7  a  large  and  opulent  city,  where  lay  the 

8  That  decree  was  thus  rendered  abortive]  Ea  resfrustrafuit,  'By  &  lex 
Sempronia,  a  law  of  Caius  Gracchus,  it  was  enacted  that  the  senate  should 
fix  the  provinces  for  the  future  consuls  before  the  comitia  for  electing  them 
•were  held.  But  from  Jug.  c.  26,  it  appears  that  the  consuls  might  settle  by 
lot,  or  by  agreement  between  themselves,  which  of  those  two  provinces 
each  of  them  should  take.  How  fur  the  senate  were  allowed  or  accustomed 
in  general,  to  interfere  in  the  arrangement,  it  is  not  easy  to  discover :  but 
on  this  occasion  they  had  taken  on  themselves  to  pass  a  resolution  in  favor 
of  the  patrician.  Lest  similar  scenes,  however,  to  those  of  the  Semprouiau 
times  should  be  enacted,  they  yielded  the  point  to  the  people. 

7  LXXV.  Thaln]  The  river  on  which  this  town  stood  is  not  named  by 
Sallust,  but  it  appears  to  have  been  the  Bagrada.  It  seems  to  have  been 
nearly  destroyed  by  the  Romans,  after  the  defeat  of  Juba,  in  the  time  of 
Julius  Cffisar ;  though  Tacitus^  Ann.  iii.  21,  mentions  it  as  having  afforded 
a  refuge  to  the  Romans  in  the  insurrection  of  the  Numidian  chief,  Tacfari- 
nas.  D'Aiivillo  aud  Dr.  Shaw,  Travels  in  Bombay,  vol.  i.  pt.  2,  ch.  5,  think 


156  SALLUST. 

greater  portion  of  his  treasures,  and  where  there  was  magni- 
ficent provision  for  the  education  of  his  children.  When  Metel- 
lus  was  informed  of  this,  although  he  knew  that  there  was,  be- 
tween Thalu  and  the  nearest  river,  a  dry  and  desert  region  fifty 
miles  broad,  yet,  in  the  hope  of  finishing  the  war  if  he  should 
gain  possession  of  the  town,  he  resolved  to  surmount  all  diffi- 
culties, and  to  conquer  even  Nature  herself.  He  gave  orders 
that  the  beasts  of  burden,  therefore,  should  be  lightened  of  all 
the  baggage  excepting  ten  days'  provision ;  and  t'lat  they  should 
be  laden  with  skins  and  other  utensils  for  hoi-ling  water.  Ho 
also  collected  from  the  fields  as  many  laboring  cattle  as  ho 
could  find,  and  loaded  them  with  vessels  of  all  sorts,  but  chiefly 
wooden,  taken  from  the  cottages  of  the  Nurnidians.  He  directed 
such  of  the  neighboring  people,  too,  as  had  submitted  to  him 
after  the  retreat  of  Jugurtha,  to  bring  him  as  much  water  as 
they  could  carry,  appointing  a  time  and  a  place  for  them  to  be 
in  attendance.  He  then  loaded  his  beasts  from  the  river,  which, 
as  I  have  intimated,  was  the  nearest  water  to  the  town,  and, 
thus  provided,  set  out  for  Thahu 

When  he  came  to  the  place  at  which  he  had  dcsire'l  the  Nu- 
midians  to  meet  him,  and  had  pitched  and  fortified  his  camp, 
so  copious  a  fall  of  rain  is  said  to  have  happened,  as  would 
have  furnished  more  than  sufficient  water  for  his  whole  army. 
Provisions,  too,  were  brought  him  far  beyond  his  expectations ; 
for  the  Numidians,  like  most  people  after  a  recent  surrender, 
had  done  more  than  was  required  of  them.8  The  men,  how- 
ever, from  a  religious  feeling,  preferred  using  the  rain-water; 
the  fall  of  which  greatly  increased  their  courage,  for  they 
thought  themselves  the  peculiar  care  of  the  gods.  On  the  next 
day,  to  the  surprise  of  Jugurtha,  they  arrived  at  Thala.  The 
inhabitants,  who  thought  themselves  secured  by  the  difficulties 
of  the  approach  to  them,  were  astonished  at  so  strange  and  un- 
expected a  sight,  but,  nevertheless,  prepared  for  their  defense. 
Our  men  showed  equal  alacrity  on  their  side. 

LXXVI.  But  Jugurtha  himself,  believing  that  to  Metellus, 
who,  by  his  exertions,  had  triumphed  over  every  obstacle,  over 
arms,  deserts,  seasons,  and  finally  over  Nature  herself  that  con- 
trols all,  nothing  was  impossible,  fled  with  his  children,  and  a 

it  the  same  with  Telepte,  now  Ferre-anaJi ;  hut  this  is  very  doubtful.  See 
Cellar,  iv.  5.  It  was  in  ruins  in  the  time  of  Strabo. 

s  Had  done  more  than  was  required  of  theinj  Officiaintenderant.  "Auxit 
intenditque  ssevitiam  oxacerbatus  indicio  filii  sui  D'rusi."  Suet.  Tib.  62. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  I.-,1? 

great  portion  of  his  treasure,  from  the  city  during  the  night. 
Nor  did  he  ever,  after  this  time,  continue9  more  than  one  day  or 
night  iu  any  place  ;  pretending  to  be  hurried  away  by  business, 
but  in  reality  dreading  treachery,  which  he  thought  he  might 
escape  by  change  of  residence,  as  schemes  of  such  a  kind  are 
the  result  of  leisure  and  opportunity. 

Metellus,  seeing  that  the  people  of  Thala  were  determined  on 
resistance,  and  that  the  town  was  defended  both  by  art  and  sit- 
uation, surrounded  the  walls  with  a  rampart  and  a  trench.  lie 
then  directed  his  machines  against  the  most  eligible  points, 
threw  up  a  mound,  and  erected  towers  upon  it  to  protect10  the 
works  and  the  workmen.  The  townsmen,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  exceedingly  active  and  diligent ;  and  nothing  was  ne- 
glected on  either  side.  At  last  the  Romans,  though  exhausted 
with  much  previous  fatigue  and  fighting,  got  possession,  forty 
days  after  their  arrival,  of  the  town,  and  the  town  only ;  for  all 
the  spoil  had  been  destroyed  by  the  deserters  ;  who,  when  they 
saw  the  walls  shaken  by  the  battering-ram,  and  their  own  situ- 
ation desperate,  had  conveyed  the  gold  and  silver,  and  whatever 
else  is  esteemed  valuable,  to  the  royal  palace,  where,  after  being 
sated  with  wine  and  luxuries,  they  destroyed  the  treasures,  the 
building,  and  themselves,  by  fire,  and  thus  voluntarily  submit- 
ted to  the  sufferings  which,  in  case  of  being  conquered,  they 
dreaded  at  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 

LXXVII.  At  the  very  time  that  Thala  was  taken,  there 
came  to  Metellus  embassadors  from  the  city  of  Leptis,11  re- 
questing him  to  send  them  a  garrison  and  a  governor ;  saying 
"  that  a  certain  Hamilcar,  a  man  of  rank,  and  of  a  factious  dis- 
position, against  whom  the  magistrates  and  the  laws  were  alike 
powerless,  was  trying  to  induce  them  to  change  sides ;  and  that 
unless  he  attended  to  the  matter  promptly,  their  own  safety," 
and  the  allies  of  Rome,  would  be  in  the  utmost  danger."  For 
the  people  at  Leptis,  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  war 

•  LXXVT.  Nor  did  he  ever — continue,  etc.]  Nequepostea — morality,  simvl- 
abal,  etc.]  Most  editors  take  moratus  for  martins :  Allen  places  a  colon  after 
it,  as  if  it  were  for  moratus  est, 

10  And  erected  towns  upon  it  to  protect,  etc.]  El  super  aggerem  impositis 
tun-itms  opus  et  administros  tutari.      "  And  protected  the  work  and  tho 
workmen  with  towers  placed  on  the  mound."     Impositis  turribus  is  not  the 
ablative  absolute,  but  the  ablative  of  the  instrument. 

11  LXXVII.  Leptis]  Leptis  Major,  now  Lebida.    In  c.  19,  Leptis  Minor  is 
meant, 

18  Then*  own  safety]  Suam  salutem :  i.  e.  the  safety  of  the  people  of  Leptis. 


158  SALLUST. 

with  Jugurtha,  had  sent  to  the  consul  Bestia,  and  afterward  tc 
Rome,  desiring  to  be  admitted  into  friendship  and  alliance  with 
us.  Having  been  granted  their  request,  they  continued  true 
and  faithful  adherents  to  us,  and  promptly  executed  all  orders 
from  Bestia,  Albinus,  and  Metellus.  They  therefore  readily  ob- 
tained from  the  general  the  aid  which  they  solicited ;  and  four 
cohorts  of  Ligurians  were  dispatched  to  Leptis,  with  Caius 
Annius  to  be  governor  of  the  place. 

LXXVIII.  This  city  was  built  by  a  party  of  Sidonians,  who, 
as  I  have  understood,  being  driven  from  their  country  through 
civil  dissensions,  came  by  sea  into  those  parts  of  Africa.  It  is 
situated  between  the  two  Syrtes,  which  take  their  name  from 
their  nature.13  These  are  two  gulfs  almost  at  the  extremity  of 
Africa,14  of  unequal  size,  but  of  similar  character.  Those  parts 
of  them  next  to  the  land  are  very  deep  ;  the  other  parts  some- 
times deep  and  sometimes  shallow,  as  chance  may  direct ;  for 
when  the  sea  swells,  and  is  agitated  by  the  winds,  the  waves 
roll  along  with  them  mud,  sand,  and  huge  stones ;  and  thus  the 
appearance  of  the  gulfs  changes  with  the  direction  of  the  wind. 

Of  this  people,  the  language  alone15  has  been  altered  by  their 
intermarriages  with  the  Numidians ;  their  laws  and  customs 
continue  for  the  most  part  Sidonian  ;  which  they  have  preserved 
with  the  greater  ease,  through  living  at  so  great  a  distance  from 
the  king's  dominions.18  Between  them  and  the  populous  parts 
of  Numidia  lie  vast  and  uncultivated  deserts. 

LXXIX.  Since  the  affairs  of  Leptis  have  led  me  into  these 
regions,  it  will  not  be  foreign  to  my  subject  to  relate  the  noble 

13  LXXVIII.  "Which  take  their  name  from  their  nature]  Quibus  nomen  tx 
re  indibum.    From  avpeiv,  to  draw,  because  the  stones  and  sand  were  drawn 
to  and  fro  by  the  force  of  the  wind  and  tide.     But  it  has  been  suggested 
that  this  etymology  is  probably  false ;  it  is  less  likely  that  their  name  'should 
be  from  the  Greek  than  from  the  Arabic,  in  which  sert  signifies  a  desert 
tract  or  region,  a  term  still  applied  to  the  desert  country  bordering  on  Iho 
Syrtes.    See  Kitter,  Allgem.  vergleich,   Geog.  vol.  i.   p.  929.     The  words 
which,  in  Havercamp,  close  this  description  of  the  Syrtes,  "  Syrtes  ab  tracui 
nominate,"  and  which  Gruter  and  Putschius  suspected  not  to  be  Sallust's, 
Cortius  omitted  :   and  his  example  has  been  followed  by  M  tiller  and  Bur- 
nouf ;  Gerlach,  Kritzins,  and  Dietsch,  have  retained  them.     Gerlach,  how- 
ever, thinks  them  a  gloss,  though  they  are  found  in  every  manuscript  but 
one. 

14  Almost  at  the  extremity  of  Africa]  Prove  in  extrema  Africa.     "  By  «•- 
trema  Africa  Gerlach  rightly  understands  the  eastern  part  of  Africa,  bor- 
dering on  Egypt,  and  at  a  great  distance  from  Nurnidia.     Kritzius. 

15  The  language  alone]  Lingua  modo. 

11  From  the  king's  dominions]  Ah  imperio  regis.  "  Understand  Masin- 
issa's,  Micipsa's,  or  Jugurtha's."  Burnovf. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  -WAR.  159 

and  singular-  Act   of  two   Carthaginians,   Avhich  the   place  has 
brought  to  my  recollection. 

At  the  time  when  the  Carthaginians  were  masters  of  the 
greater  part  of  Africa,  the  Cyrenians  were  also  a  great  and 
powerful  people.  The  territory  that  lay  betwcem  them  was 
sandy,  and  of  a  uniform  appearance,  without  a  stream  or  a  hill 
to  determine  their  respective  boundaries  ;  a  circumstance  which 
involved  them  in  a  severe  and  protracted  war.  After  armies 
and  fleets  had  been  routed  and  put  to  flight  on  both  sides,  and 
each  people  had  greatly  weakened  their  opponents,  fea  ing  lest 
some  third  party  should  attack  both  victors  and  vanquished  in. 
a  state  of  exhaustion,  they  came  to  an  agreement,  during  a  short 
cessation  of  arms,  "  that  on  a  certain  day  deputies  should  leave 
home  on  either  side,  and  that  the  spot  where  they  should  meet 
should  be  the  common  boundary  between  the  two  states." 
From  Carthage,  accordingly,  were  dispatched  two  brothers, 
who  were  named  Philseni,"  and  who  traveled  with  great  expedi- 
tion. The  deputies  of  the  Cyrenians  proceeded  more  slowly  ; 
but  whether  from  indolence  or  accident  I  have  not  been  in- 
formed. However,  a  storm  of  wind  in  these  deserts  will  cause 
obstruction  to  passengers  not  less  than  at  sea ;  for  when  a  vio- 
lent blast,  sweeping  over  a  level  surface  devoid  of  vegetation,18 
raises  the  sand  from  the  ground,  it  is  driven  onward  with  great 
force,  and  fills  the  mouth  and  eyes  of  the  traveler,  and  thus, 
by  hindering  his  view,  retards  his  progress.  The  Cyraniaa 
deputies,  finding  that  they  had  lost  ground,  and  dreading 
punishment  at  home  for  their  mismanagement,  accused  the 

17  LXXIX.  Philseni]  The  account  of  these  Carthaginian  brothers  with  a 
Greek  name,  <pi/.atvot,  praise-loving,  is  probably  a  fable.  Cortius  thinks  that 
the  inhabitants,  observing  two  mounds  rising  above  the  surrounding  level, 
fancied  they  must  have  been  raised,  not  by  nature,  but  by  human  labor, 
and  invented  a  story  to  account  for  their  existence.    "  The  altars,"  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Rennell  (Geog.  of  Herod.,  p.  640),  "  were  situated  about  seven 
ninths  of  the  way  from  Carthage  to  Cyrene ;  and  the  deception,"  he  adds, 
"  would  have  been  too  gross,  had  it  been  pretended  that  the  Carthaginian 
party  had  traveled  seven  parts  in  nine,  wnile  the  Cyrenians  had  traveled 
no  more  than  two  such  parts  of  the  way."    Pliny  (H.'N.  v.  4)  says  that  the 
altars  were  of  sand  ;  Strabo  (lib.  iii.)  says  that  in  his  time  they  bad  vanished. 
Pomponius  Mela  and  Valerius  Maximus  repeat  the  story,  but  without  add- 
ing any  thing  to  render  it  more  probable. 

18  Devoid  of  vegetation]  Nuda  gignentium.    So  c.  93,  cuncla  gigwntium 
natara.     Kritzius.  justly  observes  that  gignentia  is  not  to  be  taken  in  the 
sense  ofgenita,  as  Cortms  and  others  interpret,  but  in  its  own  active  sense; 
the  ground  was  bare  of  all  that  was  productive,  or  of  whatever  getierates  any 
thing.    This  interpretation  ia  suggested  by  Perizonius  ad  Sanctii  Minerv. 
i.  15. 


1  GO  SALLUST 

Carthaginians  of  having  left  homo  before  the  time  ;  quarreling 
about  the  matter,  and  preferring  to  do  any  thing  rather  than 
submit.  The  Philseni,  upon  this,  asked  them  to  name  any 
other  mode  of  settling  the  controversy,  provided  it  were  equitr.- 
ble  ;  and  the  Cyrenians  gave  them  their  choice,  ':  either  that 
they  should  be  buried  alive  in  the  spot  which  they  claimed  as 
the  boundary  for  their  people,  or  that  they  themselves,  on  the 
same  conditions,  should  be  allowed  to  go  forward  to  whatever 
point  they  should  think  proper."  The  Philseni,  having  accepted 
the  conditions,  sacrificed  themselves10  to  the  interest  of  their 
country,  and  were  interred  alive.  The  people  of  Carthage 
consecrated  altars  to  the  brothers  on  the  spot ;  and  other  hon- 
ors were  instituted  to  them  at  home.  I  now  return  to  my 
subject. 

LXXX.  After  the  loss  of  Thala,  Jugurtha,  thinking  no  place 
sufficiently  secure  against  Metellus,  fled  with  a  few  followers 
into  the  country  of  the  Getulians,  a  people  savage  and  uncivi- 
lized, and,  at  that  period,  unacquainted  with  even  the  name  of 
Rome.  Of  these  barbarians  he  collected  a  great  multitude, 
and  trained  them  by  degrees  to  march  in  ranks,  to  follow 
standards,  to  obey  the  word  of  command,  and  to  perform  other 
military  exercises.  lie  also  gained  over  to  his  interest,  by  large 
presents  and  larger  promises,  the  intimate  friends  of  king 
Bocchus,  and  working  upon  the  king  by  their  means,  induced 
him  to  commence  war  against  the  Romans.  This  was  the 
more  practicable  and  easy,  because  Bocchus,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  hostilities  with  Jugurtha,  had  sent  an  embassy  to 
Rome  to  solicit  friendship  and  allliance ;  but  a  faction,  blinded 
by  avarice,  and  accustomed  to  sell  their  votes  on  every  question 
honorable  or  dishonorable,20  had  caused  his  advances  to  be  re- 
jected, though  they  were  of  the  highest  consequence  to  the  war 
recently  begun.  A  daughter  of  Bocchus,  too,  was  married  to 
Jugurtha,21  but  such  a  connection,  among  the  Numidians  and 

19  Sacrificed  themselves]  Seque  vUamqne — condonavere.     "  Niliil  aliud  est 
quam  vitamsuam,  sc.  EV  dul  ovolv."  Aden. 

20  LXXX.  Sell — honorable  or  dishonorable]   Omnla  Jtonesta  atone  infton- 
esta  vendere.     See  Cat.  c.  30.     They  had  buen  bribed  by  Jugurtha  to  use 
their  influence  against  Bocchus. 

31  A  daughter  of  Bocchus,  too,  was  married  to  Jugurtha]  JufiurtTux  jilia 
Biicehi,  nupserat.  Several  manuscripts  and  old  editions  have  Jloccho,  mak- 
ing Bocchus  the  son-in-law  of  Jugurtha.  But  Plutarch  (Vit.  Mar.  c.  10, 
Sull.  c.  3)  and  Floras  (iii.  1)  agree  in  speaking  of  him  as  Jugurtha's  father- 
in-law.  Bocchus  was  doubtless  an  older  man  than  Jugurtha,  having  a 


TIIK  JUGUXTKINE  WAR.  1C> 

Moors,  is  but  lightly  regarded;  for  every  man  has  as  ma-  y 
wives  as  he  pleases,  in  proportion  to  his  ability  to  maint;  in 
them ;  some  ten,  others  more,  but  the  kings  most  of  all.  Thus 
the  affection  of  the  husband  is  divided  among  a  multitude  ;  no 
one  of  them  becomes  a  companion  to  him,2"  but  all  are  equally 
neglected. 

LXXXI.  The  two  kings,  with  their  armies,2*  met  in  a  place 
settled  by  mutual  agreement,  where,  after  pledges  of  amity  were 
given  and.  received,  Jugurtha  inflamed  the  mind  of  Bocchus  by 
observing  "  that  the  Romans  were  a  lawless  people,  of  insatiable 
covetousness,  and  the  common  enemies  of  mankind  ;  that  they 
had  the  same  motive  for  making  war  on  Bocchus  as  on  himself 
and  other  nations,  the  lust  of  dominion ;  that  all  independent 
states  were  objects  of  hatred  to  them ;  at  present,  for  instance, 
himself;  a  little  before,  the  Carthaginians  had  been  so,  as  well 
as  king  Perses ;  and  that,  in  future,  as  any  sovereign  became 
conspicuous  for  his  power,  so  would  he  assuredly  be  treated  zs 
an  enemy  by  the  Romans." 

Induced  by  "these  and  similar  considerations,  they  deter- 
mined to  march  against  Cirta,  where  Metellus  had  deposited  his 
plunder,  prisoners,  and  baggage.  Jugurtha  supposed  that,  if 
he  took  the  city,  there  would  be  ample  recompense  for  his  ex- 
ertions ;  or  that,  if  the  Roman  general  came  to  succor  his  ad- 
herents, he  would  have  the  opportunity  of  engaging  him  in  the 
field.  He  also  hastened  this  movement  from  policy,  to  lessen 
Bocchus's  chance  of  peace  ;24  lest,  if  delay  should  be  allowed, 
he  should  decide  upon  something  different  from  war. 

LXXXII.  Metellus,  when  he  heard  of  the  confederacy  of  the 
kings,  did  not  rashly,  or  in  every  place,  give  opportunities  of 
fighting,  as  he  had  been  used  to  do  since  Jugurtha  had  been  so 

grown  up  son,  Volux,  c.  105.  Castilioneus  and  Cortius,  therefore,  saw  the 
necessity  of  reading  Bocchi,  and  other  editors  have  followed  them,  except 
Gerlach,  "  who,"  says  Kritzius,  "  has  given  Bocchi  in  his  larger,  and  Boccha 
in  his  smaller  and  more  recent  edition,  in  order  that  readers  using  both  may 
have  an  opportunity  of  making  a  choice." 

22  No  one  of  them  becomes  a  companion  to  him]  Nulla,  pro  socid  obtinet. 
The  use  of  obtinet  absolutely,  or  with  the  word  dependent  on  it  understood, 
prevails  chiefly  among  the  later  Latin  writers.  Livy,  however,  has  fama 
obtinuit,  xxi.  46.  "  The  tyro  is  to  be  reminded,"  says  Dietsch,  "  that  vltintt 
is  not  the  same  as  habetttr,  but  is  always  for  locum  obtinet." 

93  LXXXI.  The  two  kings,  with  their  armies]  The  text  has  only  exer- 
citus. 

34  To  lessen  Bocchus's  chance  of  peace]  Boccki  pacem  imminuere.  He 
wished  to  engage  Bocchus  in  some  act  of  hostility  against  the  Romans,  sc 
as  to  render  any  coalition  between  them  impossible. 


1G2  SALLUST. 

often  defeated,  but,  fortifying  his  camp,  awaited  the  approach  of 
the  kings  at  no  great  distance  from  Cirta  ;  thinking  it  better, 
when  he  should  have  learned  something  of  the  Moors,25  as  they 
were  new  enemies  in  the  field,  to  give  battle  on  an  advantage. 

In  the  mean  time  he  was  informed,  by  letters  from  Rome, 
that  the  province  of  Numidia  was  assigned  to  Marius,  of  whoso 
election  to  the  consulship  he  had  already  heard. 

Being  affected  at  these  occurrences  beyond  what  was  proper 
and  decorous,  he  could  neither  restrain  his  tears  nor  govern 
his  tongue  ;  for  though  he  was  a  man  eminent  in  other  re- 
spects, he  had  too  little  firmness  in  bearing  trouble  of  mind. 
His  irritation  was  by  s"ome  imputed  to  pride ;  others  said  th?.t 
a  noble  spirit  was  wounded  by  insult ;  ma"hy  thought  him  cha- 
grined because  victory,  just  attained,  was  snatched  from  his 
grasp.  But  to  me  it  is  well  known  that  he  was  more  troubled 
at  the  honor  bestowed  on  Marius  than  at  the  injustice  done  to 
himself;  and  that  he  would  have  shown  much  less  uneasiness 
if  the  province  of  which  he  was  deprived  had  been  given  to  any 
other  than  Marius. 

LXXXIII.  Discouraged,  therefore,  by  such  a  mortification, 
and  thinking  it  folly  to  promote  another  man's  success  at  his 
own  hazard,  he  sent  deputies  to  Bocchus,  entreating  him  "  not 
to  become  an  enemy  to  the  Romans  without  cause  ;"  and  ob- 
serving "  that  he  had  a  fine  opportunity  of  entering  into  friend- 
ship and  alliance  with  them,  which  were  far  preferable  to  war ; 
that  though  he  might  have  confidence  in  his  resources,  he 
ought  not  to  change  certainties  for  uncertainties ;  that  a  war 
was  easily  begun,  but  discontinued  with  difficulty ;  that  its 
commencement  and  conclusion  were  not  dependent  on  the  same 
party ;  that  any  one,  even  a  coward,  might  commence  hos- 
tilities, but  that  they  could  be  broken  off  only  when  the  con- 
queror thought  proper ;  and  that  he  should  therefore  consult 
for  his  interest  and  that  of  his  kingdom,  and  not  connect  his 
own  prosperous  circumstances  with  the  ruined  fortunes  of  Ju- 
gurtha."  To  these  representations  the  king  mildly  answered, 
"  that  he  desired  peace,  but  felt  compassion  for  the  condition 
of  Jugurtha,  to  whom  if  similar  proposals  were  made,  all  would 
easily  be  arranged."  Metellus,  in  reply  to  this  request  of 

26  LXXXII.  Should  have  learned  something  of  the  Moors]  Cognitis 
Mauris,  i.  e.  after  knowing  something  of  the  Moors,  and  not  before.  Gognitie 
mUitibus  is  used  in  the  same  way  in  c.  39 ;  and  Dietsch  says  that  amicitia 
Jugurfkae,  pew-urn  cognita  is  for  nondum  cognita,  c.  14. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  103 

Bocchus,  sent  deputies  with  overtures,  of  which  the  king  {Ap- 
proved some,  and  rejected  others.  Thus,  in  sending  messen- 
gers to  and  fro,  the  time  passed  away,  and  the  war,  accord- 
ing to  the  consul's  desire,  was  protracted  without  being  ad- 
vanced. 

LXXXIV.  Marius,  who,  as  I  said  before,  had  been  made 
consul  with  great  eagerness  on  the  part  of  the  populace,  began, 
though  he  had  always  been  hostile  to  the  patricians,  to  inveigh 
against  them,  after  the  people  gave  him  the  province  of  Nu- 
inidia,  with  great  frequency  and  violence ;  he  attacked  them 
sometimes  individually  and  sometimes  in  a  body ;  he  said  that 
he  had  snatched  from  them  the  consulship  as  spoils  from  van- 
quished enemies ;  and  uttered  other  remarks  laudatory  to  him- 
self and  offensive  to  them.  Meanwhile  he  made  the  provision 
for  the  war  his  chief  object ;  he  asked  for  reinforcements  for 
the  legions ;  he  sent  for  auxiliaries  from  foreign  states,  kings, 
and  allies  ;  he  also  enlisted  all  the  bravest  men  from  Latium, 
most  of  whom  were  known  to  him  by  actual  service,  some 
few  only  by  report,  and  induced,  by  earnest  solicitation,  even 
discharged  veterans"'  to  accompany  him.  Nor  did  the  sen- 
ate, though  adverse  to  him,  dare  to  refuse  him  any  thing; 
the  additions  to  the  legions  they  had  voted  even  with 
eagerness,  because  military  service  was  thought  to  be  un- 
popular with  the  multitude,  and  Marius  seemed  likely  to  lose 
either  the  means  of  warfare,37  or  the  favor  of  the  people.  But 
such  expectations  were  entertained  in  vain,  so  ardent  was  the 
desire  of  going  with  Marius  that  had  seized  on  almost  all. 
Every  one  cherished  the  fancy28  that  he  should  return  home 
laden  with  spoil,  crowned  with  victory,  or  attended  with  some 
similar  good  fortune.  Marius  himself,  too,  had  excited  them 
in  no  small  degree  by  a  speech  ;  for,  when  all  that  he  required 
was  granted,  and  he  was  anxious  to  commence  a  levy,  he  called 
an  assembly  of  the  people,  as  well  to  encourage  them  to  enlist, 
as  to  inveigh,  according  to  his  practice,  against  the  nobility, 
lie  spoke,  on  the  occasion,  as  follows  : 

LXXXV.  "  I  am   aware,  my  fellow-citizens,  that  most  men 

2»  LXXXIV.  Discharged  veterans]  Homines  enteritis  stipendiis.  Soldiers 
who  had  completed  their  term  of  service. 

-~  Means  of  warfare]  Usum  belli.  That  is  ea  qwKlelli  usmposeeret,  troops 
and  supplies. 

28  Cherished  the  fancy]  Animis  trahebant.  "  Trdhere  anvmo  is  always  to 
revolve  in  the  mind,  not  to  let  the  thought  of  a  tiling  escape  from  the 
mind."  Kritzim, 


164  SALLUSX. 

do  not  appear  as  candidates  before  you  for  an  office,  and  con- 
duct themselves  in  it  when  they  have  obtained  it,  under  the 
same  character ;  that  they  are  at  first  industrious,  humble,  and 
modest,  but  afterward  lead  a  life  of  indolence  and  arrogance. 
But  to  me  it  appears  that  the  contrary  should  be  the  case ;  for 
r.s  the  whole  state  is  of  greater  consequence  than  the  single 
office  of  consulate  or  praetoi  ship,  so  its  interests  ought  to  bo 
managed29  with  greater  solicitude  than  these  magistracies  are 
sought.  Nor  am  I  insensible  how  great  a  weight  of  business  I 
am,  through  your  kindness,  called  upon  to  sustain.  To  mako 
preparations  for  war,  and  yet  to  be  sparing  of  the  treasui  y ;  to 
press  those  into  the  service  whom  I  am  unwilling  to  oft'end ;  to 
direct  every  thing  at  home  and  abroad ;  and  to  discharge  these 
duties  when  surrounded  by  the  envious,  the  hostile,30  and  the 
factious,  is  more  difficult,  my  fellow-citizens,  than  is  generally 
imagined.  In  addition  to  this,  if  others  fail  in  their  undertak- 
ings, their  ancient  rank,  the  heroic  actions  of  their  ancestors, 
the  power  of  their  relatives  arid  connections,  their  numerous 
dependents,  are  all  at  hand  to  support  them ;  but  as  for  me,  my 
whole  hopes  rest  upon  myself,  which  I  must  sustain  by  good 
conduct  and  integrity ;  for  all  other  means  are  unavailing. 

"  I  am  sensible,  too,  my  fellow-citizens,  that  the  eyes  of  all 
men  are  turned  upon  me  ;  that  the  just  and  good  favor  me,  as 
my  services  are  beneficial  to  the  state,  but  that  the  nobility 
seek  occasion  to  attack  me.  I  must  therefore  use  the  greater 
exertion,  that  you  may  not  be  deceived  in  me,31  and  that  their 
views  may  be  rendered  abortive.  I  have  led  such  a  life,  indeed, 
from  my  boyhood  to  the  present  hour,  that  I  am  familiar  with 
every  kind  of  toil  and  danger ;  and  that  exertion,  which,  before 
your  kindness  to  me,  I  practiced  gratuitously,  it  is  not  my  in- 
tention to  relax  after  having  received  my  reward.  For  those 
who  have  pretended  to  be  men  of  worth  only  to  secure  their 
election,32  it  may  be  difficult  to  conduct  themselves  properly  in 

29  LXXXV.  Its  interests  ought  to  be  managed,  etc.]  Najcrre  cur  a  ittam 
administrari  quam  hcec  petl  deoere.    Cortius  injudiciously  omits  the  word 
illam.    No  one  has  followed  him  but  Allen. 

30  Hostile]  Occursantis.    Thwarting,  opposing. 

81  That  yon  may  not  be  deceived  in  me]  Ut  neque  DOS  capiamini.  "  This 
verb  is  undoubtedly  used  in  this  passage  for  aecipere.  Compare  Tibull. 
Eleg.  iii.  6,  45  :  Nee  vos  aut  capuint  pendentia  brachia  cotto,  Autjattat  llandd 
sordida  tingua  prece.  Cic.  Acad.  iv.  20  :  Sapientis  vim  maximum  esse  cavere, 
ne  camaiur"  Gerlach. 

38  To  secure  their  election]  Per  ambitionem.  Ambire  is  to  canvass  for 
votes ;  to  court  the  favor  of  the  people. 


THE  JUGURTHINB  WAR.  165 

office ;  but  to  me,  who  have  passed  my  whole  life  in  the 
most  honorable  occupations,  to  act  well  has  from  habit  become 
nature. 

"  You  have  commanded  me  to  carry  on  the  war  against  Ju- 
gurtha ;  a  commission  at  which  the  nobility  are  highly  offend- 
ed. Consider  with  yourselves,  I  pray  you,  whether  it  would  be 
a  change  for  the  better,  if  you  were  to  sand  to  this,  or  to  any 
other  such  appointment,  one  of  yonder  crowd  of  nobles,33  a 
man  of  ancient  family,  of  innumerable  statues,  and  cf  no  mili- 
tary experience ;  in  order,  forsooth,  that  in  so  important  an 
office,  and  being  ignorant  of  every  thing  connected  with  it,  he 
may  exhibit  hurry  and  trepidation,  and  select  one  of  the  people 
to  instruct  him  in  his  duty.  For  so  it  generally  happens,  that 
he  whom  you  hrive  chosen  to  direct,  seeks  another  to  direct 
him.  1  know  some,  my  fellow-citizens,  who,  after  they  have 
been  elected5'  consuls,  have  begun  to  read  the  acts  of  their  an- 
cestors, and  the  military  precepts  of  the  Greeks;  persons  who 
invert  the  ordc-r  of  things  ;3a  for  though  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  the  office'"'  is  posterior,  in  point  of  time,  to  election,  it  is,  in 
reality  and  practical  importance,  prior  to  it. 

"  Compare  now,  my  fellow-citizens,  me,  who  am  a  new  man, 
with  those  haughty  nobles.37  What  they  have  but  heard  or 
read,  I  have  witnessed  or  performed.  What  they  have  learned 
from  books,  I  have  acquired  in  the  field ;  and  whether  deeds 
or  words  are  of  greater  estimation,  it  is  for  you  to  consider. 


"  Of  yonder  crowd  of  nobles]  Ex  iMo  globo  nobilitatis.    Itto.  cf«/m««f. 

s*  I  know  some — who  after  they  have  been  elected,  etc.]  "  At  whom 
Marias  directs  this  observation,  it  is  impossible  to  tell.  Gerlach,  referring 
to  Cic.  Quaest.  Acad.  ii.  1, 2,  thinks  that  Lucullus  is  meant.  But  if  he  sup- 
poses that  Lucnllus  was  present  to  the  mind  of  Marius  when  he  spoke,  he 
is  eirregiously  deceived,  for  Marius  was  forty  years  antecedent  to  Lucullus. 
It  is  possible,  however,  that  Sallust,  thinking  of  Lucullus  when  he  wrote 
Marius's  speech,  may  have  fallen  into  an  anachronism,  and  have  attributed 
to  Marius,  whoso  character  he  had  assumed,  an  observation  which  might 
justly  have  been  made  in  his  own  day."  Kritzius. 

25  Persons  who  invert  the  order  of  things]  Homines prxposteri.  Men  who 
do  that  lust  which  should  be  done  first. 

»«  For  though  to  discharge  thedutie*  of  the  office,  etc.]  Nam  gerere,  qwim 
fieri,  tempnre  poKieriux,  reatquevsu  print;  est.  With  gerere  is  to  be  nudcr- 


TT) 

order  to  speaking  and  voting,  but  prior  and  superior  in  effect." 

57  With  those  lisiivjlity  iioblcsj   Urm  illomm  sujxrbui.     Virtus  Sciyi 
^  mitij  sa/jic/ttui  L<.di. 


166  SALLUST. 

They  despise  my  humbleness  of  birth  ;  I  contemn  their  im- 
becility. My  condition38  is  made  an  objection  to  me  ;  their  mis- 
conduct is  a  reproach  to  them.  The  circumstance  of  birth,39 
indeed,  I  consider  as  one  and  the  same  to  all ;  but  think  that 
he  who  best  exerts  himself  is  the  noblest.  And  could  it  be 
inquired  of  the  fathers,40  of  Albinus  and  Bestia,  whether  they 
would  rather  be  the  parents  of  them  or  of  me,  what  do  you 
suppose  that  they  would  answer,  but  that  they  would  wish  the 
most  deserving  to  be  their  offspring  ?  If  the  patricians  justly 
despise  me,  let  them  also  despise  their  own  ancestors,  whose 
nobility,  like  mine,  had  its  origin  in  merit.  They  envy  me  the 
honor  that  I  have  received ;  let  them  also  envy  me  the  toils, 
the  abstinence,41  and  the  perils,  by  which  I  obtained  that  honor. 
But  they,  men  eaten  up  with  pride,  live  as  if  they  disdained  all 
the  distinctions  that  you  can  bestow,  and  yet  sue  for  those  dis- 
tinctions as  if  they  had  lived  so  as  to  merit  them.  Yet  those 
are  assuredly  deceived,  who  expect  to  enjoy,  at  the  same  time, 
things  so  incompatible  as  the  pleasures  of  indolence  and  the  re- 
wards of  honorable  exertion.42 

"  When  they  speak  before  you,  or  in  the  senate,  they  occupy 
the  greatest  part  of   their  orations  in  extolling  their  ances- 

88  My  condition}  Miliifortuna.  "  That  is,  my  lot,  or  condition,  in  which 
I  was  born,  in  which  I  had  no  hand  in  producing."  Diebsch. 

39  The  circumstance  of  birth,  etc.]  Naturam  unam  et  communcm  omnium 
existumo.  "  Nascendi  sortem"  is  the  explanation  which  Dietsch  gives  to 
naturam.  One  man  is  born  as  well  as  another,  but  the  difference  Between 
men  is  made  by  their  different  modes  of  action ;  a  difference  which  the 
nobles  falsely  suppose  to  proceed  from  fortune.  "  Voltaire,  Mohammed,  Act. 
I.,  sec.  iv.,  has  expressed  the  sentiment  of  Sallust  exactly  : 

Les  mortels  sont  egaux,  ce  n'est  point  ia  naissance, 
C'est  la  scule  vertu  qui  liiit  leur  difference."       Burnouf. 

<°  And  could  it  be  inquired  of  the  fathers,  etc.]  Ac,  si  jam  ex  patribus 
Alibini  aut  Bestue  quceri  posset,  etc.  Patres,  in  this  passage,  is  not,  as  Anthoii 
imagines,  the  same  as  majores ;  as  is  apparent  from  the  word  giffni.  The 
fathers  of  Albinus  and  Bestia  were  prob'ably  dead  at  the  time  that  Marius 
spoke.  The  passage  which  Anthon  quotes  from  Plutarch  to  illustrate  patres, 
is  not  applicable,  for  the  word  there  is  Trpoyovoi :  'QirvvBuvero  rui>  Trapov- 
TUV,  ei  fifi  Koi  rovf  l/ieivuv  OIOVTO.I  irpoyovov^  UVTU  pi~/.7.oi>  dv  l/j.!-aa8ai 
irapaTTArjaiovc  tKyvvovf  uTro/UJreiv,  arc  o>)  fj,r'/f>'  uurovf  61'  tvytveiav,  u/lA' 
tin'1  dpfrr/f  Kal  KO.AUV  iip-yuv  Ivdo^ovf  yevop.evov<;.  Vit.  Mar.  c.  9.  "He 
would  then  ask  the  people  whether  they  did  not  think  that  the  ancestors 
of  those  men  would  have  wished  rather  to  leave  a  posterity  like  him,  since 
they  themselves  had  not  risen  to  glory  by  their  high  birth,  but  by  their 
Tirtue  and  heroic  achievements  ?"  Laiujlwrne. 

41  Abstinence]  Innocentice.    Abstinence  from  all  vicious  indulgence. 

«  Honorable  exertion]    Virlutls.    Sec  notes  on  Cat.  c.  1,  and  Jug.  c.  1. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  utf 

tors ;"  for,  they  suppose  that,  by  recounting  the  heroic  deeds  of 
their  forefathers,  they  render  themselves  more  illustrious.  But 
the  reverse  of  this  is  the  case  ;  for  the  more  glorious  were  the 
lives  of  their  ancestors,  the  more  scandalous  is  their  own  inaction. 
The  truth,  indeed,  is  plainly  this,  that  the  glory  of  ancestors 
sheds  a  light  on  their  posterity,44  which  sutlers  neither  their 
virtues  nor  their  vices  to  be  concealed.  Of  this  light,  my  fel- 
low-citizens, I  have  no  share  ;  but  I  have,  what  confers  much 
more  distinction,  the  power  of  relating  my  own  actions.  Con- 
sider, then,  how  unreasonable  they  are ;  what  they  claim  to 
themselves  for  the  merit  of  others,  they  will  not  grant  to  me 
for  my  own  ;  alleging,  forsooth,  that  I  have  no  statues,  and  that 
my  distinction  is  newly-acquired ;  but  it  is  surely  better  to 
have  acquired  such  distinction  myself  than  to  bring  disgrace  on 
that  received  from  others. 

"  I  am  not  ignorant,  that,  if  they  were  inclined  to  reply  to 
me,  they  would  make  an  abundant  display  of  eloquent  and 
artful  language.  Yet,  since  they  attack  both  you  and  myself, 
on  occasion  of  the  great  favor  which  you  have  conferred  upon 
me,  I  did  not  think  proper  to  be  silent  before  them,  lest  any 
one  should  construe  my  forbearance  into  a  consciousness  of 
demerit.  As  for  myself,  indeed,  nothing  that  is  said  of  me,  I 
feel  assured,45  can  do  me  injury  ;  for  what  is  true,  must  of  ne- 
cessity speak  in  my  favor  ;  what  is  false,  my  life  and  character 
will  refute.  But  since  your  judgment,  in  bestowing  on  me  so 
distinguished  an  honor  and  so  important  a  trust,  is  called  in 
question,  consider,  I  beseech  you,  again  and  again,  whether 
you  are  likely  to  repent  of  what  you  have  done.  I  can  not,  to 
raise  your  confidence  in  me,  boast  of  the  statues,  or  triumphs, 
or  consulships  of  my  ancestors  ;  but,  if  it  be  thought  necessary, 

43  They  occupy  the  greatest  part  of  their  orations  in  extolling  their  an- 
cestors] Pleraque oratwne  majores sues  extottunt.     "They  extol  their  ances- 
tors in  the  greatest  part  of  their  speech." 

<*  The  glory  of  ancestors  sheds  a  light  on  their  posterity]  Juvenal,  viii. 

ll  *tQ  « 

-Lt>o  • 

Incipit  ipsornm  contra  te  stare  parentum 
Nobilitas,  claramque  facem  praeferre  pudendis. 

Thy  fathers'  virtues,  clear  and  bright,  display 
Thy  shameful  deeds,  as  with  the  light  of  day. 

44  I  feel  assured]  Ex  animi  sententia.     It  was  a  common  form  of  btrong 
asseveration."     Gerlach. 


168  SALLUST. 

I  can  show  you  spears,46  a  banner,47  caparisons48  for  horses,  and 
other  military  rewards ;  besides  the  scars  of  wounds  on  my 
breast.  These  are  my  statues  ;  this  is  my  nobility ;  honors,  not 
left,  like  theirs,  by  inheritance,  but  acquired  amid  innumerable 
toils  and  dangers. 

"  My  speech,  they  say,  is  inelegant ;  but  that  I  have  ever 
thought  of  little  importance.  Worth  sufficiently  displays  it- 
self; it  is  for  my  detractors  to  use  studied  language,  that  they 
may  palliate  base  conduct  by  plausible  words.  Nor  have  I 
learned  Greek  ;  for  I  had  no  wish  to  acquire  a  tongue  that  adds 
nothing  to  the  valor40  of  those  who  teach  it.  But  I  have 
gained  other  accomplishments,  such  as  are  of  the  utmost  bene- 
fit to  a  state  ;  I  have  learned  to  strike  down  an  enemy  ;  to  be 
vigilant  at  my  post  ;50  to  fear  nothing  but  dishonor;  to  bear 
cold  and  heat  with  equal  endurance  ;  to  sleep  on  the  ground  ; 

4*  Spears]  Hastas.  "  A  Tiasta  pura,  that  is  a  spear  without  iron,  was 
anciently  the  reward  of  a  soldier  the  first  time  that  lie  conquered  in  battle, 
Serv.  ad  Virg.  Mi\.  vi.  760  ;  it  was  afterward  given  to  one  who  had  struck 
down  an  enemy  in  a  sally  or  skirmish,  Lips,  ad  Polyb.  do  Milit.  Kom.  v. 
17."  Burnouf. 

47  A  banner]  Vexillum.  "  Standards  were  also  military  rewards.  Vo- 
piscus  relates  that  ten  hastce  puree,  and  four  standards  of  two  colors,  were 
presented  to  Aurelian.  Suetonius  (Aug.  25)  says  that  Agrippa  was  pre- 
sented by  Augustus,  after  his  naval  victory,  with  a  standard  of  the  color  of 
the  sea.  These  standards  therefore,  were  not,  as  Badius  Ascensius  thinks, 
always  taken  from  the  enemy ;  though  this  was  sometimes  the  case,  as  ap- 
pears from  Sil.  Ital.  x-v.  261 : 

Tune  hasta  viris,  tune  martia  cuique 
Vexilla,  ut  meritum,  et  prsedas  libamina,  dantur."     Burnouf. 

«  Caparisons]  Phaleras.    "  Sil.  Ital.  xv.  255 : 

Plialeris  hie  pectora  fulget : 
Hie  torque  aurato  circumdat  bellica  colla. 

Juvenal,  xv.  60 : 

Utlaeti  phaleris  omnes  et  torquibus  omnes. 

These  passages  show  that  phalerce,  a  name  for  the  ornaments  of  horses,  were 
also  decorations  of  men  ;  but  they  differed  from  the  torques,  or  collars,  in 
this  respect,  that  the  phalerce  hung  down  over  the  breast,  and  the  torques 
only  encircled  the  neck.  See  Lips,  ad  1'olyb.  de  Milit.  Kom.  v.  17." 
Burnouf. 

«"  Valor]  Virtuiem.  "  The  Greeks,  those  illustrious  instructors  of  the 
world,  had  not  been  able  to  preserve  their  liberty ;  their  learning  therefore 
had  not  added  to  their  valor.  Virtus,  in  this  passage,  is  evidently  fortitudo 
?>gUica,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  Marius,  was  the  only  virtue."  Burnouf. 
See  Plutarch,  Vit.  Mar.  c.  2. 

50  To  be  vigilant  at  my  post]  Prasidia  agUare.  Or  "to  keep  guard  nt 
ray  post."  "  Prawidia,  agitare  signifies  nothing  more  than  to  protect  a 
party  of  foragers  or  the  baggage,  or  to  keep  guard  round  a  besieged  city." 
vortius. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  169 

and  to  sustain  at  the  same  time  hunger  and  fatigue.  And 
•with  such  rules  of  conduct  I  shall  stimulate  my  soldiers,  not 
treating  them  with  rigor  and  myself  with  indulgence,  nor 
making  their  toils  my  glory.  Such  a  mode  of  commanding 
is  at  once  useful  to  the  state,  and  becoming  to  a  citizen.  For 
to  coerce  your  troops  with  severity,  while  you  yourself  live  at 
ease,  is  to  be  a  tyrant,  not  a  general. 

"  It  was  by  conduct  such  as  this,  my  fellow-citizens,  that 
your  ancestors  made  themselves  and  the  republic  renowned. 
Our  nobility,  relying  on  their  forefathers'  merits,  though  totally 
different  from  them  in  conduct,  disparage  us  who  emulate  their 
virtues  ;  and  demand  of  you  every  public  honor,  as  due,  not  to 
their  personal  merit,  but  to  their  high  rank.  Arrogant  pre- 
tenders, and  utterly  unreasonable  !  For  though  their  ancestors 
left  them  all  that  was  at  their  disposal,  their  riches,  their  statues, 
and  tlu-ir  glorious  names,  they  left  them  not,  nor  could -leave 
them,  their  virtue  ;  which  alone,  of  all  their  possessions,  could 
neither  be  communicated  nor  received. 

"  They  reproach  me  as  being  mean,  and  of  unpolished  man- 
ners, because,  forsooth,  I  have  but  little  skill  in  arranging  an 
entertainment,  and  keep  no  actor,51  nor  give  my  cook"  higher 
wages  than  my  steward ;  all  which  charges  I  must,  indeed, 
acknowledge  to  be  just ;  for  I  learned  from  my  father,  and 
other  venerable  characters,  that  vain  indulgences  belong  to 
women,  and  labor  to  men ;  that  glory,  rather  than  wealth, 

51  Keep  no  actor]  Histri&ncm  nuttvm — Jiabeo.  "  Luxuries  peregrinse  origo 
ab  exercitu  Asiatico  (Manlii  sc.  Vulsonis,  A.U.C.  563)  invecta  in  urbem  est. 
*  *  *  Turn  psaltria  sumbucistriaeqne,  et  convivalia  ludivnum  oblectamentay. 
nddita  epulis."  Liv.  xxxix.  6.  "By  this  army  returning  from  Asia  was 
the  origin  of  foreign  luxury  imported  into  the  city.  *  *  *  At  entertain- 
ments— were  introduced  players  ou  the  harp  and  timbrel,  with  buffoon*  for 
the  diversion  of  the  guests."  Baker.  Protessor  Anthon,  who  quotes  thia 
passage,  says  that  Idsirio  "  here  denotes  a  buffoon  kept  for  the  amusement 
of  the  company."  But  such  is  not  the  meaning  of  the  word  hlstrio.  It 
signifies  one  who  in  some  way  acted,  either  by  dancing  and  gesticulation, 
or  by  reciting,  perhaps  to  the  music  of  the  sambuciistr'ux  or  other  minstrels. 
See  Smith's  Diet,  of  Gr.  and  Rom.  Ant.  Art.  Histrio,  sect.  2.  Scheller's 
Lex.  sub.  w.  Ifistrio,  Ludio,  and  Salto.  The  emperors  had  whole  com- 
panies of  actors,  Jiistrwnet  a-ulici,  for  their  private  amusement.  Suetonius 
says  of  Augustus  (c.  74)  that  at  feasts  he  introduced  acroamata  et  histriones. 
See  also  Spartian.  Had.  c.  19  ;  Jul.  Capitol.  Ferns,  c.  8. 

62  My  cook]  Coquum.  Livy,  in  the  passage  just  cited  from  him,  adds  turn 
coqmi-t  rU  if  si  mum  antiqms  niancipium,  et  Cfstimatione  et  KSU  inpretio  es-^e  ;  et 
quf'd  ministerivmfuerat,  ar-<  7,</A»ri  cotpta.  "The  cook,  whom  the  ancients 
considered  as  the  meanest  of  their  slaves  both  in  estimation  and  use,  be- 
came hiu'hlv  valuable."  Baker. 

8 


1 70  SALLUST. 

should  be  the  object  of  the  virtuous  ;  and  that  arms  and  arm«r, 
not  household  furniture,  are  marks  of  honor.  But  let  the  no- 
bility, if  they  please,  pursue  what  is  delightful  and  dear  to 
them  ;  let  them  devote  themselves  to  licentiousness  and  luxury ; 
let  them  pass  their  age  as  they  have  passed  their  youth,  in 
revelry  and  feasting,  the  slaves  of  gluttony  and  debauchery ; 
but  let  them  leave  the  toil  and  dust  of  the  field,  and  other 
such  matters,  to  us,  to  whom  they  are  more  grateful  than  ban- 
quetsn  This,  however,  they  will  not  do  ;  for  when  these  most 
infamous  of  men  have  disgraced  themselves  by  every  species 
of  turpitude,  they  proceed  to  claim  the  distinctions  due  to  the 
most  honorable.  Thus  it  most  unjustly  happens  that  luxury 
and  indolence,  the  most  disgraceful  of  vices,  are  harmless  to 
those  who  indulge  in  them,  and  fatal  only  to  the  innocent  com- 
monwealth. 

"  As  I  have  now  replied  to  my  calumniators,  as  far  as  my 
own  character  required,  though  not  so  fully  as  their  flagitious- 
ness  deserved,  I  shall  add  a  few  words  on  the  state  of  public 
affairs.  In  the  first  place,  my  fellow-citizens,  be  of  good  cour- 
age with  regard  to  Numidia ;  for  all  that  hitherto  protected 
Jugurtha,  avarice,  inexperience,  and  arrogance,53  you  have  en- 
tirely removed.  There  is  an  army  in  it,  too,  which  is  well 
acquainted  with  the  country,  though,  assuredly,  more  brave 
than  fortunate  ;  for  a  great  part  of  it  has  been  destroyed  by 
the  avarice  or  rashness  of  its  commanders.  Such  of  you,  then, 
as  are  of  military  age,  co-operate  with  me,  and  suppoit  the 
cause  of  your  country ;  and  let  no  discouragement,  from  the 
ill-fortune  of  others,  or  the  arrogance  of  the  late  commanders, 
affect  any  one  of  you.  I  myself  shall  be  with  you,  both  on 
the  march  and  in  the  battle,  both  to  direct  your  movements 
and  to  share  your  dangers.  I  shall  treat  you  and  myself  on 
every  occasion  alike  ;  and,  doubtless,  with  the  aid  of  the  gods, 
all  good  things,  victory,  spoil,  and  glory,  are  ready  to  our 
hands ;  though,  even  if  they  were  doubtful  or  distant,  it  would 
still  become  every  able  citizen  to  act  in  defense  r.l>  his  country. 
For  no  man,  by  slothful  timidity,  has  escaped  the  lot  of  mor- 

»3  Avarice,  inexperience,  and  arrogance]  Avaritiam,  imperiliam,  superbiam. 
"  The  President  De  Brosses  and  Dotteville  have  observed,  that  Marius,  in 
these  words,  makes  an  allusion  to  the  characters  of  all  the  generals  that  had 
preceded  him,  noticing  at  once  the  avarice  of  Calpurnius,  the  inexperience 
of  Albinus,  and  the  pride  of  Metellus."  Le  Brun. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR  171 

tals  ;54  nor  has  any  parent  wished  for  his  children"  that  they 
might  live  forever,  but  rather  that  they  might  act  in  life  with 
virtue  and  honor.  I  would  add  more,  my  fellow-citizens,  if 
words  could  give  courage  to  the  faint-hearted  ;  to  the  brave  I 
think  that  I  have  said  enough." 

LXXXVL  After  having  spoken  to  this  effect,  Marius,  when 
he  found  that  the  minds  of  the  populace  were  excited,  imme- 
diately freighted  vessels  with  provisions,  pay,  arms,  and  other 
necessaries,  and  ordered  Aulus  Maulius,  his  lieutenant- 
general,  to  set  sail  with  them.  He  himself,  in  the  mean 
time,  proceeded  to  enlist  soldiers,  not  after  the  ancient 
method,  or  from  the  classes,58  but  taking  all  that  were  willing 

M  For  no  man,  by  slothful  timidity,  has  escaped  the  lot  of  mortals]  Etenim 
ignavia  nemo  immortal^  foetus.  Th'e  English  translators  have  rendered  this 
phrase  as  if  they  supposed  the  sense  to  be,  "  No  man  has  gained  immortal 
renown  by  inaction."  But  this  is  not  the  signification.  What  Marius 
means,  is,  that  no  man,  however  cautiously  and  timidly  he  may  avoid  danger, 
h-iK  prolonged  his  life  to  immortality.  Taken  in  this  sense,  the  words  have 
their  proper  connection  with  what  immediately  follows :  neque  guisquam 
parent  lifart^  /t+i  aft/'iiiforent,  optavit.  The  sentiment  is  the  same  as  in  tho 
verse  of  Horace :  Mors  et  fuyacem  persequitur  virum :  or  in  these  lines  of 
Tyrtaeus: 

'On  yap  Kuf  Ouvarov  ye  c/vyelv  eifiapfievov  ICTTIV 
'A.v6p',  bvti1  fjv  irpoyovuv  i]  yevof  dOavdruv 

TLo2.Xa.Ki  6ijioTt)Ta  (pvyuv  KOI  dov~ov  UKOVTUV 
'Epxe~ai,  iv  6'  OIKU  [totpa  K'I^EV  davarov. 

To  none,  'mong  men,  escape  from  death  is  giv'n, 
Thongh  sprung  from  deathless  habitants  of  heav'n : 
Him  that  has  fled  the  battle's  threatening  sound, 
The  silent  foot  of  late  at  home  has  found. 

The  French  translator,  Le  Brim,  has  given  the  right  sense:  "Jamais  la 
lachete  n'a  preserve  de  la  inert;"  and  Durean  Delumalle :  "Pouretreun 
lache,  on  n'en  serait  pas  plus  immortel."  Ignavia  is  properly  inaction  ;  but 
here  signifies  a  timid  shrinking  from  danger. 

44  Nor  has  any  parent  wished  for  his  children,  etc.]  'Ov  yap  uOavuTovf 
a<j>iai  TrortJaf  iv^ovrai  yrviadai,  J/i/.'  uyadovs  nal  tvicfaeif.  "  Men  do  not 
pray  that  they  may  have  children  that  will  never  die,  but  such  as  will  be 
jjoo'd  and  honorable."  Plato,  Menex.  20. 

"  This  speech,  differing  from  the  other  speeches  in  Sallust  both  in  words 

find  thoughts,  conveys  a  clear  notion  of  that  fierce  and  objurgatory  eloquence 

h  was  natural  to  the  rude  manners  and  bold  character  of  Marius.    It  is 

.  >i>v-eeh  which  can  not  be  called  polished  and  modulated,  but  mnst  rather 

rined  rough  and  ungraceful.    The  phraseology  is  of  an  antique  cast, 

>mc  of  the  words  coar>e.    *    *    *    But  it  is  animated  and  fervid, 

rushing  on  like  a  torrent ;  and  by  language  of  such  a  character  and  struc- 

t  i;r<»,  the  nature  and  manners  of  Marius  are  excellently  represented.''    Ger- 

44  LXXXVT.  Not  after  the  ancient  method,  or  from  the  classes]  3wi,  more 
nuj.ir.un,  n^que  ex  d&ssibus.  By  the  regulation  of  Scrvius  Tulliua,  who  di- 


172  SALLUST. 

to  join  him,  and  the  greater  part  from  the  lowest  ranks. 
Some  said  that  this  was  done  from  a  scarcity  of  better  men, 
and  others  from  the  consul's  desire  to  pay  court"  to  the  poorer 
class,  because  it  was  by  that  order  of  men  that  he  had  been 
honored  and  promoted;  and,  indeed,  to  a  man  grasping  at 
power,  the  most  needy  are  the  most  serviceable,  persons  to 
Avhorn  their  property  (as  they  have  none)  is  not  an  object  of 
care,  and  to  whom  every  thing  lucrative  appears  honorable. 
Setting  out,  accordingly,  for  Africa,  with  a  somewhat  larger 
force  than  had  been  decreed,  he  arrived  in  a  few  days  at 
Utica.  The  command  of  the  army  was  resigned  to  him  by 
Publius  Eutilius,  Metullus's  lieutenant-general ;  for  Metullus 
himself  avoided  the  sight  of  Marius,  that  he  might  not  see 
what  he  could  not  even  endure  to  hear  mentioned. 

LXXXVII.  Marius,  having  filled  up  his  legions58  and  aux- 
iliary cohorts,  marched  into  a  part  of  the  country  which  was 
fertile  and  abundant  in  spoil,  where,  whatever  he  captured, 
he  gave  up  to  his  soldiers.  lie  then  attacked  such  fortresses 
or  towns  as  were  ill  defended  by  nature  or  with  troops,  and 
ventured  on  several  engagements,  though  only  of  a  light  char- 
acter, in  different  places.  The  new  recruits,  in  process  of 
time,  began  to  join  in  an  encounter  without  fear ;  they  saw 
that  such  as  fled  were  taken  prisoners  or  slain ;  that  the 
bravest  were  the  safest ;  that  liberty,  their  country,  and 
parents,59  are  defended,  and  glory  and  riches  acquired,  by 
arms.  Thus  the  new  and  old  troops  soon  became  as  one 
body,  and  the  courage  of  all  was  rendered  equal. 

The  two  kings,  when  they  heard  of  the  approach  of  Marius,. 
retreated,  by  separate  routes,  into  parts  that  were  difficult  of 

vided  the  Koman  people  into  six  classes,  the  highest  class  consisting  of  the 
wealthiest,  and  the  others  decreasing  downward  in  regular  gradation,  none 
of  the  sixth  class,  who  were  not  considered  as  having  any  fortune,  but 
were  capita  ctnsi,  "rated  by  the  head,"  were  allowed  to  enlist  in  the  army. 
The  enlistment  of  the  lower  order,  commenced,  it  is  paid,  by  Marius,  tended 
to  debase  the  army,  and  to  render  it  a  fitter  tool  for  the  purposes  of  unprin- 
cipled commanders.  See  Aul.  Gell.,  xvi.  10. 
07  Desire  to  pay  court]  Per  amlntionem. 

68  LXXXVII.  Having  filled  up  his  legions,  etc.]  Their  numbers  had  been 
thinned  in  actions  with  the  enemy,  and  Metellus  perhaps  took  home  some 
part  of  the  army  which  did  not  return  to  it. 

69  Their  country  and   parents,  etc.]  Patriam  parenteaque,  etc.    Sallust 
means  to  say  that  the  soldiers  would  Bee  such  to  be  the  general  effect  and 
result  of  vigorous  warfare;  not  that  they  had  any  country  or  parents  to 
protect  in  Numidia.     But  the  observation  has  very  much  of  the  rhetorician 
in  it. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  173 

access;  a  plan  which  had  been  proposed  by  Jugurtlia,  who 
hoped  that,  in  a  short  time,  the  enemy  might  be  attacked 
when  dispersed  over  the  country,  supposing  that  the  Roman 
soldiers,  like  the  generality  of  troops,  would  be  less  careful 
and  observant  of  discipline  when  the  fear  of  danger  was 
removed. 

LXXXVIII.  Metellus,  meanwhile,  having  taken  his  de- 
parture for  Rome,  was  received  there,  contrary  to  his  expecta- 
tion, with  the  greatest  feelings  of  joy,  being  equally  welcomed, 
since  public  prejudice  had  subsided,  by  both  the  people  and  the 
patricians. 

Marius  continued  to  attend,  with  equal  activity  and  pru- 
dence, to  his  own  affairs  and  those  of  the  enemy.  He 
observed  what  would  be  advantageous,  or  the  contrary,  to 
either  party ;  he  watched  the  movements  of  the  kings,  coun- 
teracted their  intentions  and  stratagems,  and  allowed  no  re- 
missness  in  his  own  army,  and  no  security  in  that  of  the 
enemy.  He  accordingly  attacked  and  dispersed,  on  several 
occasions,  the  Getulians  and  Jugurtha  on  their  march,  as 
they  were  carrying  off  spoil  from  our  allies  ;80  and  he  obliged 
the  king  himself,  near  the  town  of  Cirta,  to  take  flight  with- 
out his  amis."  But  finding  that  such  enterprises  merely 
gained  him  honor,  without  tending  to  terminate  the  war, 
he  resolved  on  investing,  one  after  another,  all  the  cities, 
which,  by  the  strength  of  their  garrisons  or  situation,  were 
best  suited  either  to  support  the  enemy,  or  to  resist  himself; 
so  that  Jugurtha  Avould  either  be  deprived  of  his  fortresses, 
if  he  suffered  them  to  be  taken,  or  be  forced  to  come  to  an 
engagement  in  their  defense.  As  to  Bocchus,  he  had  fre- 
quently sent  messengers  to  Marius,  saying  that  he  desired 
the  friendship  of  the  Roman  people,  and  that  the  consul 
need  fear  no  act  of  hostility  from  him.  But  whether  ho 
merely  dissembled,  with  a  view  to  attack  us  unexpectedly 
with  greater  effect,  or  whether,  from  fickleness  of  disposition 
he  habitually  wavered  between  war  and  peace,  was  never 
fairly  ascertained. 

LXXXIX.  Marius,    as   he    had    determined,   proceeded    to 

•°  LXXXVIII.  From  our  allies]  Ex  sodis  nostris.  The  people  of  the 
province. 

61  Obliged  the  king  himself— to  take  flight  without  his  arms]  Ipwmq'i* 
regem — armis  exuerat.  He  attacked  Jugurtlia  BO  suddenly  and  vigorously 
that  he  was  compelled  to  flee,  leaving  his  arms  behind  him. 


174  SALLUST. 

attack  Iho  fortified  towns  and  places  of"  strength,  and  to 
detach  them,  partly  by  force,  and  partly  by  threats  or  offers 
of  reward,  from  the  enemy.  His  operations  in  this  way, 
however,  were  at  first  but  moderate;  for  he  expected  that 
Jugurtha,  to  protect  his  subjects,  would  soon  come  to  an 
engagement.  But  finding  that  he  kept  at  a  distance,  and 
was  intent  on  other  affairs,  he  thought  it  was  time  to  enter 
upon  something  of  greater  importance  and  difficulty.  Amuf 
the  vast  deserts  there  lay  a  great  and  strong  city,  named  Capsa, 
the  founder  of  which  is  said  to  have  been  the  Libyan  Hercules.02 
Its  inhabitants  were  exempted  from  taxes  by  Jugurtha,  and 
under  mild  government,  and  were  consequently  regarded  as 
the  most  faithful  of  his  subjects.  They  were  defended 
against  enemies,  not  only  by  walls,  magazines  of  arms,  and 
bodies  of  troops,  but  still  more  by  the  difficulty  of  ap- 
proaching them ;  for,  except  the  parts  adjoining  the  walls,  all 
the  surrounding  country  is  waste  and  uncultivated,  destitute 
of  water,  and  infested  with  serpents,  whose  fierceness,  like 
that  of  other  wild  animals,  is  aggravated  by  want  of  food ; 
while  the  venom  of  such  reptiles,  deadly  in  itself,  is  exacer- 
bated by  nothing  so  much  as  by  thirst.  Of  this  place 
Marius  conceived  a  strong  desire03  to  make  himself  master, 
not  only  from  its  importance  for  the  war,  but  because  its 
capture  seemed  an  enterprise  of  difficulty ;  for  Metellus  had 
gained  great  glory  by  taking  Thala,  a  town  similarly  situated 
and  fortified ;  except  that  at  Thala  there  were  several  springs 
near  the  walls,  while  the  people  of  Capsa  had  only  one  run- 
ning stream,  and  that  within  the  town,  all  the  water  which 
they  used  beside  being  rain-water.  But  this  scarcity,  both 
here  and  in  other  parts  of  Africa,  where  the  people  live 
rudely  and  remote  from  the  sea,  was  endured  with  the  greater 
ease,  as  the  inhabitants  subsist  mostly  on  milk  and  wild 
beasts'  flesh,64  and  use  no  salt,  or  other  provocatives  of 


81  LXXXIX.  The  Libyan  Hcrcxiles]  Hercules  Libya.  "  He  is  one  of  the 
forty  and  more  whom  Varro  mentions,  and  who,  it  is  probable,  were  leaders 
of  trading  expeditions  or  colonies.  See  supra,  c.  18.  A  Libyan  Hercules  is 
mentioned  by  Solinus.  xxvii."  Burnovf. 

83  Marius  conceived  a  strong  desire]  Marium  maxima  cupido  invaserat. 
"  A  strong  desire  had  seized  Marius." 

84  Wild  beasts'  flesh]  Ferina  came.     Almost  all  our  translators  have  ren- 
dered this  "  venison."    But  the  Africans  lived  on  the  flesh  of  whatever 
beasts  they  took  in  the  chase. 


THE  JUGTTRTHINE  WAR.  175 

appetite,  their  food  being  merely  to  satisfy  hunger  or  thirst, 
an  1  not  to  encourage  luxury  or  excess. 

XC.  The  consul,96  having  made  all  necessary  investiga- 
tions, and  relying,  I  suppose,  on  the  gods  (for  against  such 
difficulties  he  could  not  well  provide  by  his  own  forethought, 
a.-;  he  was  also  straitened  for  want  of  corn,  because  the  Nu- 
midians  apply  more  to  pasturage  than  agriculture,  and  had 
conveyed,  by  the  king's  order,  whatever  corn  had  been  raised 
into  fortified  places,  while  the  ground  at  the  time,  it  being  l 
the  end  of  summer,  was  parched  and  destitute  of  vegetation), 
yet,  under  the  circumstances,  conducted  his  arrangements 
with  great  prudence.  All  the  cattle,  which  had  been  taken 
for  some  days  previous,  he  consigned  to  the  care68  of  the 
auxiliary  cavalry;  and  directed  Aulus  Manlius,  his  lieu- 
tenant-general, to  proceed  with  the  light-armed  cohorts  to 
the  town  of  Lares,67  where  he  had  deposited  provisions  and  pay 
for  the  army,  telling  him  that,  after  plundering  the  country, 
he  would  join  him  there  in  a  few  days.  Having  by  this 
means  concealed  his  real  design,  he  proceeded  toward  the 
river  Tana. 

XCI.  On  his  march  he  distributed  daily,  to  each  division 
of  the  infantry  and  cavalry,  an  equal  portion  of  the  cattle, 
and  gave  orders  that  water-bottles  should  be  made  of  their 
hides ;  thus  compensating,  at  once,  for  the  scarcity  of  corn, 
and  providing,  while  all  remained  ignorant  of  his  intention, 
utensils  which  would  soon  be  of  service.  At  the  end  of  six 
clays,  accordingly,  when  he  arrived  at  the  river,  a  large  number 
of  bottles  had  been  prepared.  Having  pitched  his  camp,  with 
a  slight  fortification,  he  ordered  his  men  to  take  refreshment, 
and  to  be  ready  to  resume  their  march  at  sunset ;  and,  having 
laid  aside  all  their  baggage,  to  load  themselves  and  their  beasts 
only  with  water.  As  soon  as  it  seemed  time,  he  quitted  the 
camp,  and,  after  marching  the  whole  night,'8  encamped  again. 

•*  XC.  The  consul,  etc.]  Here  is  a  long  and  awkward  parenthesis.  I  have 
adhered  to  the  construction  of  the  original.  The  "vet,"  tamen,  that  fol- 
lows the  parenthesis,  refers  to  the  matter  included  in  it. 

68  He  consigned  to  the  care,  etc.]  Equitibm  auxiliariis  agendum  attribuit. 
"  He  gave  to  be  driven  by  the  auxiliary  cavalry." 

87  The  town  of  Lares]  'Oppidum  Laris.  Cortius  seems  to  have  been  right 
in  pronouncing  Laris  to  bo  an  accusative  plural.  Gerlach  observes  that 
Lares  occurs  in  the  Itinerary  of  Antonius  and  in  St.  Augustine,  Adv. 
Donatist.,  vi.  28. 

48  XCI.  After  marching  the  whole  night]  He  seems  to  have  marched  iu 
the  night  for  the  sake  of  coolness,. 


176  SALLUST 

The  same  course  he  pursued  on  the  following  night,  and  on  the 
third,  long  before  dawn,  he  reached  a  hilly  spot  of  ground,  not 
more  than  two  miles  distant  from  Capsa,  where  he  waited,  as 
secretly  as  possible,  with  his  whole  force.  But  when  daylight 
appeared,  and  many  of  the  Numidians,  having  no  apprehensions 
of  an  enemy,  went  forth  out  of  the  town,  he  suddenly  ordered 
all  the  cavalry,  and  with  them  the  lightest  of  the  infantry,  to 
hasten  forward  to  Capsa,  and  secure  the  gates.  He  himself 
immediately  followed,  with  the  utmost  ardor,  restraining  his 
men  from  plunder. 

When  the  inhabitants  perceived  that  the  place  was  surprised, 
their  state  of  consternation  and  extreme  dread,  the  suddenness 
of  the  calamity,  and  the  consideration  that  many  of  their  fellow- 
citizens  were  without  the  walls  in  the  power  of  the  enemy, 
compelled  them  to  surrender.  The  town,  however,  was  burned ; 
of  the  Numidians,  such  as  were  of  adult  age,  were  put  to  the 
sword ;  the  rest  were  sold,  and  the  spoil  divided  among  the 
soldiers.  This  severity,  in  violation  of  the  usages  of  war,  was 
not  adopted  from  avarice  or  cruelty  in  the  consul,  but  was 
exercised  because  the  place  was  of  great  advantage  to  Jugurtha, 
and  difficult  of  access  to  us,  while  the  inhabitants  were  a  fickle 
and  faithless  race,  to  be  influenced  neither  by  kindness  nor  by 
terror. 

XCII.  When  Marius  had  achieved  so  important  an  enter- 
prise, without  any  loss  to  his  troops,  he  who  was  great  and 
honored  before  became  still  greater  and  still  more  honored. 
All  his  undertakings,60  however  ill-concerted,  were  regarded  as 
proofs  of  superior  ability ;  his  soldiers,  kept  under  mild  disci- 
pline, and  enriched  with  spoil,  extolled  him  to  the  skies ;  the 
Numidians  dreaded  him  as  some  thing  more  than  human  ;  and 
all,  indeed,  allies  as  well  as  enemies,  believed  that  he  was  either 
possessed  of  supernatural  power,  or  had  all  things  directed  for 
him  by  the  will  of  the  gods. 

After  his  success  in  this  attempt,  he  proceeded  against  other 

\  towns ;  a  few,  where  they  offered  resistance,  he  took  by  force ; 

a  greater  number,  deserted  in  consequence  of  the  wretched  fate 

of  Capsa,  he  destroyed  by  fire;   and  the  whole  country  waa 

filled  with  mourning  and  slaughter. 

88  XCII.  All  his  undertakings,  etc.]  Omnia  non  bene  cons-vita  in  mrtutem 
traJielant/ur.  "  All  that  he  did  rashly  was  attributed  to  his  consciousness  of 
extraordinary  power."  If  they  could  not  praise  his  prudence,  they  praised 
nis  resolution  and  energy. 


THE  JUiiTilTlliVE  WAR.  177 

Having  at  length  gained  possession  of  many  places,  and  most 
of  them  without  loss  to  his  army,  he  turned  his  thoughts  to 
another  enterprise,  which,  though  not  of  the  same  desperate 
character  as  that  at  Capsa,  was  yet  not  less  difficult  of  execu- 
tion.70 Not  far  from  the  river  Mulucha,  which  divided  the 
kingdoms  of  Jugurtha  and  Bocchus,  there  stood,  in  the  midst 
of  a  plain,71  a  rocky  hill,  sufficiently  broad  at  the  top  for  a  small 
fort ;  it  rose  to  a  vast  height,  and  had  but  one  narrow  ascent 
left  open,  the  whole  of  it  being  as  steep  by  nature  as  it  could 
have  been  rendered  by  labor  and  art.  This  place,  as  there  were 
treasures  of  the  king  in  it,  Marius  directed  his  utmost  eiforts  to 
take.73  But  his  views  were  furthered  more  by  fortune  than  by 
his  own  contrivance.  In  the  fortress  there  were  plenty  of  men 
and  arms  for  its  defense,  as  well  as  an  abundant  store  of  pro- 
visions, and  a  spring  of  water ;  while  its  situation  was  unfavor- 
able for  raising  mounds,  towers,  and  other  works  ;  and  the  road 
to  it,  used  by  its  inhabitants,  was  extremely  steep,  with  a  preci- 
pice on  either  side.  The  vinea3  were  brought  up  with  great 
danger,  and  without  effect ;  for,  before  they  were  advanced  any 
considerable  distance,  they  were  destroyed  with  fire  or  stones. 
And  from  the  difficulties  of  the  ground,  the  soldiers  could  neither 
stand  in  front  of  the  works,  nor  act  among  the  vineae,73  without 
danger ;  the  boldest  of  them  were  killed  or  wounded,  and  the 
fear  of  the  rest  increased. 

XCIII.  Marius  having  thus  wasted  much  time   and  labor, 

70  Difficult  of  execution]  DiMcilem.  There  seemed  to  be  as  many  impedi- 
ments to  success  as  in  the  affair  at  Capsa,  though  the  undertaking  was  not 
of  so  perilous  a  nature. 

71  In  the  midst  of  a  plain]  Inter  cceteram  planitiem.     By  cateram  he  sig- 
nifies that  the  rest  of  the  ground,  except  the  part  on  which  the  fort  stood, 
was  plain  and  level. 

74  Directed  his  utmost  efforts  to  take]  Summa,  m  capere  intendit.  It  is  to 
be  observed  that  summa  vi  refers  to  intendit,  not  to  capere.  Summa,  ope 
animum  intendit  ut  caperet. 

'3  Among  the  vinese]  Inter  vineas.  "Inter,  for  which  Muller,  from  a  con- 
jecture of  Glareanus,  substituted  intra:  is  supported  by  all  the  manuscripts, 
and  ought  not  to  be  altered,  although  intra  would  have  been  more  exact,  as 
the  signification  of  inter  is  of  greater  extent,  and  includes  that  of  intra. 
Inter  is  used  when  a  thing  is  inclosed  on  each  side ;  intra,  when  it  is  inclosed 
on  all  sides.  If  the  soldiers,  therefore,  are  considered  as  surrounded  with 
the  finece,  they  should  be  described  as  intra  vineas;  but  as  there  is  no  reason 
why  they  may  not  also  be  contemplated  as  being  inclosed  only  laterally  by 
the  vinece,  the  phrase  inter  vineas  may  surely  in  that  case  be  applied  to  them. 
Gronovius  ana  Drakenborch  ad  Liv.,  i.  10,  have  observed  how  often  these 
propositions  are  interchanged  when  referred  to  time."  Kritzius.  On  vinea, 
see  c.  76. 

8* 


178  SALLUST. 

began  seriously  to  consider  whether  he  should  abandon  the 
attempt  as  impracticable,  or  wait  for  the  aid  of  Fortune,  whom 
he  had  so  often  found  favorable.  While  he  was  revolving  the 
matter  in  his  mind,  during  several  days  and  nights,  in  a  state  of 
much  doubt  and  perplexity,  it  happened  that  a  certain  Ligurian, 
a  private  soldier  in  the  auxiliary  cohorts,74  having  gone  out  of 
the  camp  to  fetch  water,  observed,  near  that  part  of  the  fort 
which  was  furthest  from  the  besiegers,  some  snails  brawling 
among  the  rocks,  of  which,  when  he  had  picked  up  one  or  two, 
and  afterward  more,  he  gradually  proceeded,  in  his  eagerness 
for  collecting  them,  almost  to  the  tcp  of  the  hill.  When  he 
found  this  part  deserted,  a  desire,  incident  to  the  human  mind, 
of  seeing  what  he  had  never  seen,75  took  violent  possession  of 
him.  A  largo  oak  chanced  to  grow  out  among  the  rocks,  at 
first,  for  a  short  distance,  horizontally,78  and  then,  as  nature 
directs  all  vegetables,77  turning  and  shooting  upward.  Raising 
himself  sometimes  on  the  boughs  of  this  tree,  and  sometimes 
on  the  projecting  rocks,  the  Ligurian,  as  all  the  Numidians 
were  intently  watching  the  besiegers,  took  a  full  survey  of  the 
platform  of  the  fortress.  Having  observed  whatever  he  thought 
it  would  afterward  prove  useful  to  know,  he  descended  the 
same  way,  rot  unobservantly,  as  he  had  gone  up,  but  exploring 

74  XCIII.  A  certain  Lignrian — in  the  auxiliary  cohorts]  The  Ligurians 
were  not  numbered  among  the  Italians  or  socli  in  the  Koman  army,  but  at- 
tached to  it  only  as  auxiliaries. 

75  A  desire — of  seeing  what  he  had  never  seen]  More  kumani  ingenii,  cu- 
pidoignara  visundi  invadit.    This  is  the  reading  of  Cortius,  to  which  M  tiller 
and  Allen  adhere.    Gerlach  inserted  in  his  text,  More  httmani  ingeni,  cupidio 
difficilia faciundi  animum  vortit;  which  Kritzius,  Orelli,  and  Dietsch,  nave 
adopted,  and  which  Cortius  acknowledged  to  be  the  reading  of  the  generality 
of  me  manuscripts,  except  that  they  vary  as  to  the  last  two  words,  some 
having  animadwrtit.     The  sense  of  this  reading  will  be,  "the  desire  of 
doing  something  difficult,  which  is  natural  to  the  human  mind,  drewoif  his 
thoughts  from  gathering  snails,  and  led  him  to  contemplate  something  of  a 
more  arduous  character."     But  tho  reading  of  Cortius  gives  BO  much  better 
a  sense  to  the  passage,  that  I  have  thought  proper  to  follow  it.     Burnout', 
with  Havercamp  and  the  editions  antecedent  to  Cortius,  reads  more  humanca 
cvpidinis  igncvra  visitndi  animum  vortit,  of  which  the  first  five  words  are 
taken  from  a  quotation  of  Aulus  Gellius,  ix.  12,  who,  however,  may  have 
transcribed  them  from  some  other  part  of  Sail  list's  works,  now  lost. 

7t  Horizontally]  Prona.  This  word  here  signifies/bmw^,  not  downward, 
as  Anthon  and  others  interpret,  for  trees  growing  out  of  a  rock  or  bank  will 
not  take  a  descending  direction. 

77  As  nature  directs  all  vegetables]  Quo  cuncta  gignentium  naturafert.  It 
is  to  be  observed  that  the  construction  is  naturafert  cuncta  gignentium,  for 
cuncta  gignentia.  On  gignenlia,  i.  e.  vegetable,  or  whatever  produces  any 
thing,  see  c.  79,  and  Cat.,  c.  53. 


TIIK  JUGUKTTIINE  WAR.  179 

and  noticing  all  the  peculiarities  of  the  path.  He  then  hastened 
to  Man  us,  acquainted  him  with  what  he  had  done,  and  urged 
him  to  attack  the  fort  on  that  side  where  he  had  ascended, 
offering  himself  to  lead  the  way  and  the  attempt.  Marius  sent 
some  of  those  about  him,  along  with  the  Ligurian,  to  examine 
the  practicability  of  his  proposal,  who,  according  to  their  several 
dispositions,  reported  the  affair  as  difficult  or  easy.  The  consul's 
hopes,  however,  were  somewhat  encouraged ;  and  he  accordingly 
selected,  from  his  band  of  trumpeters  and  bugle-men,  five  of  the 
most  nimble,  and  with  them  four  centurions  for  a  guard  ;78  all 
of  whom  he  directed  to  obey  the  Ligurian,  appointing  the  next 
day  for  commencing  the  experiment. 

XCIV.  When,  according  to  their  instructions,  it  seemed  time 
to  set  out,  the  Ligurian,  after  preparing  and  arranging  every 
thing,  proceeded  to  the  place  of  ascent.  Those  who  commanded 
the  centuries,79  being  previously  instructed  by  the  guide,  had 
changed  their  arms  and  dress,  having  their  heads  and  feet  bare, 
that  their  view  upward,  and  their  progress  among  the  rocks, 

78  Four  centnrions  for  a  guard]  Prasidio  quiforent,  quatuor  centurio7j.es. 
It  is  a  question  among  the  commentators  whether  the  centurions  were  at- 
tended by  their  centuries  or  not ;  Cortius  thinks  that  they  were  not,  as  ten 
men  were  sufficient  to  cause  an  alarm  in  the  fortress,  which  was  all  that 
Marius  desired.   But  that  Cortius  is  in  the  wrong,  and  that  there  were  com- 
mon soldiers  with  the  centurions,  appears  from  the  following  considera- 
tions :  1.  Marius  would  hardly  have  Bent,  or  Sallust  have  spoken  of,  four 
men  as  a  guard  to  six.    2.  Why  should  centurions  only  have  been  selected, 
and  not  common  soldiers  as  well  as  their  officers  ?    3.  "An  expression  in  the 
following  chapter,  laqueis — quihus  aUevati  mttites  facttlus  escenderent,  seems 
to  prove  that  there  were  others  present  besides  the  centurions  and  the  trum- 
peters.   The  word  milites  is  indeed  wanting  in  the  text  of  Cortius,  but  ap- 
pears to  have  been  omitted  by  him  merely  to  favor  his  own  notion  as  to  the 
absence  of  soldiers,  for  he  left  it  out,  as  Kritzius  says,  sitmmd  libidine,  ne 
•uno  quidem  codlce  assentiente,  "purely  of  his  own  will,  and  without  the  au- 
thority of  a  single  manuscript."   Taking  a  fair  view  of  the  passage,  we  seem 
necessarilv  led  to  believe  that  the  centurions  were  attended  by  a  portion,  if 
not  the  whole,  of  their  companies.    See  the  fol'owinjj  note. 

79  XCIV.  Those  who  commanded  the  centuries!  Ilh  qui  centvriis  prceerant. 
This  is  the  rending  of  several  manuscripts,  and  of  almost  all  the  editions 
before  that  of  Kritzius,  and  may  be  tolerated  if  we  suppose  that  the  centu- 
rions were  attended  by  their  men,  and  that  Sallust,  in  speaking  of  the  chnnjro 
of  dress,  meant  to  include  the  men,  although  he  specifies  only  the  officer*. 
Yet  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  why  Sallnst  should  have  used  such  a  periphrasis 
for  centnrii'intx.    Seven  of  the  manuscripts,  however,  have  qul  adscensun 
erant,  which  Kritzius  and  Dietsch  have  adopted.    Two  have  qui  ex,  centuriis 
prceerant.     Allen,  not  unhappily,  conjectures,  qui  pr&sidio  erant.     Cortius 
suspected  the  phrase,  qui  centuriis  praerant,  and  thought  it  a  transformation 
of  the  words  qui  adscensuris  praerat,  which  somebody  had  written  in  the 
margin  as  an  explanation  of  the  following  word  duce,  and  which  were  after- 
ward altered  and  thrust  into  the  text. 


1 80  SALLUST. 

might  be  less  impeded  ;80  their  swords  were  slung  behind  them, 
as  well  as  their  shields,  which  were  Numidian,  and  made  of 
leather,  both  for  the  sake  of  lightness,  and  in  order  that,  if  struck 
against  any  object,  they  might  make  less  noise.  The  Ligurian 
went  first,  and  tied  to  the  rocks,  and  whatever  roots  of  trees 
projected  through  age,  a  number  of  ropes,  by  which  the  soldiers 
supporting  themselves  might  climb  with  the  greatest  ease.  Such 
as  were  timorous,  from  the  extraordinary  nature  of  the  path,  he 
sometimes  pulled  up  by  the  hand;  when  the  ascent  was  ex- 
tremely rugged,  he  sent  them  on  singly  before  him  without 
their  arms,  which  he  then  carried  up  after  them  :  whatever 
parts  appeared  unsafe,81  he  first  tried  them  himself,  and,  by  going 
up  and  down  repeatedly  in  the  same  place,  and  then  standing 
aside,  he  inspired  the  rest  with  courage  to  proceed.  At  length, 
after  uninterrupted  and  harassing  exertion  they  reached  the  for- 
tress, which,  on  that  side,  was  undefended,  for  all  the  occupants, 
as  on  other  days,  were  intent  on  the  enemy  i:i  the  opposite 
quarter. 

Though  Marius  had  kept  the  attention  of  the  Numidians, 
during  the  whole  day,  fixed  on  his  attacks,  yet,  when  he  heard 
from  his  scouts  how  the  Ligurian  had  succeeded,  he  animated 
his  soldiers  to  fresh  exertions,  and  he  himself,  advancing  beyond 
the  vinese,  and  causing  a  testudo  to  be  formed,"2  came  up  close 
under  the  walls,  annoying  the  enemy,  at  the  same  time,  with  his 
engines,  archers,  and  slingers,  from  a  distance. 

But  the  Nurnidians,  having  often  before  overturned  and 
burned  the  vinese  of  the  Romans,  no  longer  confined  themselves 
within  the  fortress,  but  spent  day  and  night  before  the  walls, 
railing  at  the  Romans,  upbraiding  Marius  with  madness,  threaten- 
ing our  soldiers  with  being  made  slaves  to  Jugurtha,  and 
exhibiting  the  utmost  audacity  on  account  of  their  successful 
defense.  In  the  mean  time,  while  both  the  Romans  and  Numi- 
dians  were  engaged  in  the  struggle,  the  one  side  contending  for 
glory  and  dominion,  the  other  for  their  very  existence,  the 
*  trumpets  suddenly  sounded  a  blast  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  at 

80  Progress — might  be  less  impeded]  Nisus— -facilvus  foret.     The  adverb 
for  the  adjective.     So  in  the  speech  of  Adherbal.  c.  14,  ut  tutihs  essem. 

81  Unsafe]  Dubia  nisu.    "  Not  to  be  depended  upon  for  support."    Nlsu 
is  the  old  dative  for  nisui. 

8«  Causing  a  testudo  to  be  formed]  Tesbudine  act&.  The  soldiers  placed 
their  shields  over  their  heads,  and  joined  them  close  together,  forming  a  de- 
fense like  the  shell  of  a  tortoise. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  181 

which  the  women  and  children,  who  had  gone  out  to  view  the 
contest,  were  the  first  to  flee ;  next  those  who  were  nearest  to 
the  wall,  and  at  length  the  whole  of  the  Numidians,  armed  and 
unarmed,  retreated  within  the  fort.  When  this  had  happened, 
the  Romans  pressed  upon  the  enemy  with  increased  boldness, 
dispersing  them,  and  at  first  only  wounding  the  greater  part, 
but  afterward  making  their  way  over  the  bodies  of  those  who 
fell,  thirsting  for  glory,  and  striving  who  should  be  first  to  reach 
the  wall ;  not  a  single  individual  being  detained  by  the  plunder. 
Thus  the  rashness  of  Marius,  rendered  successful  by  fortune, 
procured  him  renown  from  his  very  error. 

XCV.  During  the  progress  of  this  affair,  Lucius  Sylla,  Marius's 
quaestor,  arrived  in  the  camp  with  a  numerous  body  of  cavalry, 
which  he  had  been  left  at  Rome  to  raise  among  the  Latins  and 
allies. 

Of  so  eminent  a  man,  since  my  subject  brings  him  to  my 
notice,  I  think  it  proper  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the  charac- 
ter and  manners ;  for  I  shall  in  no  other  place  allude  to  his 
affairs  ;83  and  Lucius  Sisenna,84  who  has  treated  that  subject 
the  most  ably  and  accurately  of  all  writers,  seems  to  me  to 
have  spoken  with  too  little  freedom.  Sylla,  then,  was  of  patri- 
cian descent,  but  of  a  family  almost  sunk  in  obscurity  by  the 
degeneracy  of  his  forefathers.  He  was  skilled,  equally  and 
profoundly,  in  Greek  and  Roman  literature.  He  was  a  man 
of  large  mind,  fond  of  pleasure,  but  fonder  of  glory.  His 
leisure  was  spent  in  luxurious  gratifications,  but  pleasure  never 
kept  him  from  his  duties,  except  that  he  might  have  acted 
more  for  his  honor  with  regard  to  his  wife.85  He  was  eloquent 

83  XCV.  For  I  shall  in  no  other  place  allude  to  his  affairs]  Neque  enim  alio 
loco  de  Suttee  rebus  dicturi  svmus.  These  words  show  that  SaDust,  at  this 
time,  had  not  thought  of  -writing  Histories,  but  that  he  turned  his  attention 
to  that  pursuit  after  he  had  finished  the  Jugurthine  war.  For  that  he 
Bpoke  of  Sylla  in  his  large  history  is  apparent  from,  several  extant  frag- 
ments of  it,  and  from  Plutarch,  who  quotes  Sallust,  Vit.  Syll.,  c.  3."  Krii- 
ziut. 

"*  Lucius  Sisenna]  He  wrote  a  history  of  the  civil  wars  between  Sylla  and 
Marius,  Veil.  Paterc.  ii.  9.  Cicero  alludes  to  his  style  as  being  jejune  and 
puerile.  Brut.,  c.  64,  Do  Legg.  i.  2.  About  a  hundred  and  fifty  fragments 
of  his  history  remain. 

M  Except  that  he  might  have  acted  more  for  his  honor  with  regard  to  his 
wife]  Ni-si  gvod  de  uxore  potuit  Jionevtius  consult.  As  these  words  are  va^ue 
and  indeterminate,  it  is  not  agreed  among  the  critics  and  translators  to  wliat 
part  of  Sylla's  life  Sallust  refers.  I  suppose,  with  Rupertus,  Aldus,  Man- 
iitius,  Crispinus.  and  De  Brosses,  that  the  allusion  is  to  his  connection  with 
Valeria,  of  which  the  history  is  given  by  Plutarch  in  his  life  of  Sylla,  whicn 


1 82  SALLUST. 

rind  subtle,  and  lived  on  the  easiest  terms  with  his  fri<  mis."" 
His  depth  of  thought  in  disguising  his  intentions,  was  incred- 
ible ;  he  was  liberal  of  most  things,  but  especially  of  money. 
And  though  he  was  the  most  fortunate*7  of  all  men  before  his 
victory  in  the  civil  war,  yet  his  fortune  was  never  beyond  his 
desert  ;88  and  many  have  expressed  a  doubt  whether  his  success 
or  his  merit  were  the  greater.  As  to  his  subsequent  acts,  I 
know  not  whether  more  of  shame  or  of  regret  must  be  felt  at 
the  recital  of  them. 

XCVI.  When  Sylla  came»  with  his  cavalry  into  Africa,  as 
has  just  been  stated,  and  arrived  at  tfie  camp  of  Marius, 
though  he  had  hitherto  been  unskilled  and  undisciplined  in 

the  English  reader  may  take  in  Langhorne's  translation :  "  A  few  months 
after  Metella's  death,  he  presented  the  people  with  a  show  of  gladiators  ; 
and  as,  at  that  time,  men  and  women  had  no  separate  places,  but  sat  pro- 
miscuously in  the  theater,  a  woman  of  great  beauty,  and  of  one  of  the  best 
families,  happened  to  sit  near  Sylla.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Messala,  and 
sister  to  the  orator  Horterisius ;  her  name  was  Valeria  ;  and  she  had  lately 
been  divorced  from  her  husband.  This  woman,  coming  behind  Sylla, 
touched  him,  and  took  off  a  little  of  the  nap  of  his  robe,  and  then  returned 
to  her  place.  Sylla  looked  at  her,  quite  amazed  at  her  familiarity,  when 
she  said,  '  Wonder  not,  my  lord,  at  what  1  have  clone ;  I  had  only  a  mind 
to  share  a  little  in  your  good  fortune.'  Sylla  was  fur  from  being  displeased  ; 
on  the  contrary,  it  appeared  that  he  was  fluttered  very  ugreeably,  for  he  sent 
to  ask  her  name,  and  to  inquire  into  her  family  and  character.  Then  fol- 
lowed an  interchange  of  amorous  regards  and  smiles,  which  ended  in  aeon- 
tract  and  marriage.  The  lady,  perhaps,  was  not  to  blame.  But  Sylla, 
though  he  got  a  woman  of  reputation,  and  great  accomplishments,  yet  came 
into  the  match  upon  wrong  principles.  Like  a  youth,  he  was  caught  witlj 
soft  looks  and  languishing  airs,  things  that  are  wont  to  excite  the  lowest  of 
the  passions."  Others  have  thought  that  Sallust  refers  to  Syllu's  conduct 
on  the  death  of  his  wife  Metella,  above  mentioned,  to  whom,  as  she  hap- 
pened to  fall  sick  when  he  was  giving  an  entertainment  to  the  people,  and 
as  the  priest  forbade  him  to  have  his  house  defiled  with  death  on  the  occa- 
sion, he  unfeelingly  sent  a  bill  of  divorce,  ordciimr  her  to  be  carried  out  of 
the  house  while  the  breath  was  in  her.  Cortius,  Kritz,  and  Laugius,  think 
that  the  allusion  is  to  Sylla's  general  faithlessness  to  his  wives,  for  he  had 
several ;  as  if  Sallust  had  used  the  singular  for  the  plural,  uxore  for  ttxf/ri- 
bus,  or  revxoridf  but  if  Sallust  meant  to  ftllncle  to  more  than  one  wife,  why 
should  he  have  restricted  himiself  to  the  s'ngulnr  ? 

86  Lived  on  the  easiest  terms  with  his  friends]  Facilis  amicitid.  The  critics 
are  in  doubt  about  the  sense  of  this  phra?c.  I  have  given  that  which  Dietseh 
prefers,  who  says  that  a  msuifacilis  amicitid  is  "  one  who  easily  grants  his 
iriends  all  that  they  desire,  exacts  little  from  them,  and  is  no  severe  censor  • 
of  their  morals."  Cortius  explains  Mfacilis  ad  amicitiam,  and  Facciolati,  in 
his  Lexicon,  facile  siln  arnicas  par ans,  but  theee  interpretations,  as  Kritziua 
observes,  are  hardly  suitable  to  the  ablative  case. 

*7  Most  fortunate]  Iktttiewmo.  Alluding,  perhaps,  to  the  title  of  Felix, 
which  lie  assumed  after  his  great  victory  over  Marius. 

•8  His  desert]  Industariam.  Thut  is,  the  efforts  which  he  made  to  attain 
distinction. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  183 

the  art  of  war,  he  became,  in  a  short  time,  the  most  expert  of 
the  whole  army.  IL-  was  1  Asides  jiffuble  to  the  soldiers;  he 
conferred  favors  on  many  at  their  request,  and  on  others  of 
his  own  accord,  and  was  reluctant  to  receive  any  in  return. 
But  he  repaid  other  obligations  more  readily  than  those  of  a 
pecuniary  nature  ;  he  himself  demanded  repayment  from  no 
one  ;  but  rather  made  it  his  object  that  as  many  as  possible 
should  be  indebted  to  him.  He  conversed,  jocosely  as  well  as 
seriously,  with  the  humblest  of  the  soldiers ;  he  was  their  fre- 
quent companion  at  their  works,  on  the  march,  and  on  guard. 
Nor  did  he  ever,  as  is  usual  with  depraved  ambition,  attempt 
to  injure  the  character  of  the  consul,  or  of  any  deserving  per- 
son. His  sole  aim,  whether  in  the  council  or  the  field,  was  to 
suffer  none  to  excel  him  ;  to  most  he  was  superior.  By  such 
conduct  he  soon  became  a  favorite  both  with  Marius  and  with 
the  army. 

XCVII.  Jugurtha,  after  he  had  lost  the  city  of  Capsa,  and 
other  strong  and  important  places,  as  well  as  a  vast  sum  of 
money,  dispatched  messengers  to  Bocchus,  requesting  him  to 
bring  his  forces  into  Numidia  as  soon  as  possible,  and  stating 
that  the  time  for  giving  battle  was  at  hand.  But  finding 
that  he  hesitated,  and  was  balancing  the  inducements  to  peaco 
and  war,  he  again  corrupted  his  confidants,  as  on  a  previous  oc- 
casion, with  presents,  and  promised  the  Moor  himself  a  third 
part  of  Numidia,  should  either  the  Romans  be  driven  from 
Africa,  or  the  war  brought  to  an  end  without  any  diminution 
of  his  own  territories.  Being  allured  by  this  offer,  Bocchus 
joined  Jugurtha  with  a  large  force. 

The  armies  of  the  kings  being  thus  united,  they  attacked 
Marius,  on  his  march  to  his  winter  quarters,  when  scarcely  a 
tenth  part  of  the  day  remained,89  expecting  that  the  night, 
which  was  now  coming  on,  would  be  a  shelter  to  them  if  they 
were  beaten,  and  no  impediment  if  they-  should  conquer,  as 
they  were  well  acquainted  with  the  country,  while  either  result 
would  be  worse  for  the  Romans  in  the  dark.  At  the  very  mo- 
ment, accordingly,  that  Marius  heard  from  various  quarters90 
of  the  enemy's  approach,  the  enemy  themselves  were  upon  him, 
and  before  the  troops  could  either  form  themselves  or  collect 

89  XCVII.  When  scarcely  a  tenth  part  of  the  day  remained]  Vlx  decima 
parte  die  reliqua.  A  remarkably  exact  specification  of  the  time. 

80  From  various  quarters]  Ex,  multis.  From  his  scouts,  who  came  in  fronj 
all  sides. 


184  SALLUST. 

the  baggage,  before  they  could  receive  even  a  signal  or  an 
order,  the  Moorish  and  Getulian  horse,  not  in  line,  or  any  regu- 
lar array  of  battle,  but  in  separate  bodies,  as  chance  had  united 
them,  rushed  furiously  on  our  men  ;  who,  though  all  struck 
with  a  panic,  yet,  calling  to  mind  what  they  had  done  on 
former  occasions,  either  seized  their  arms,  or  protected  those 
who  were  looking  for  theirs,  while  some,  springing  on  their 
horses,  advanced  against  the  enemy.  But  the  whole  conflict 
was  more  like  a  rencounter  with  robbers  than  a  battle ;  the 
horse  and  foot  of  the  enemy,  mingled  together  without  stand- 
ards or  order,  wounded  some  of  our  men,  and  cut  down  others, 
and  surprised  many  in  the  rear  while  fighting  stoutly  with 
those  in  front ;  neither  valor  nor  arms  were  a  sufficient  defense, 
the  enemy  being  superior  in  numbers,  and  covering  the  field 
on  all  sides.  At  last  the  Eoman  veterans,  who  were  necessarily 
well  experienced  in  war,91  formed  themselves,  wherever  the  na- 
ture of  the  ground  or  chance  allowed  them  to  unite,  in  circular 
bodies,  and  thus  secured  on  every  side,  and  regularly  drawn  up, 
withstood  the  attacks  of  the  enemy. 

XCVIII.  Marius,  in  this  desperate  emergency,  was  not  more 
alarmed  or  disheartened  than  on  any  previous  occasion,  but 
rode  about  with  his  troop  of  cavalry,  which  he  had  formed 
of  his  bravest  soldiers  rather  than  his  nearest  friends,  in  every 
quarter  of  the  field,  sometimes  supporting  his  own  men  when 
giving  way,  sometimes  charging  the  euemy  where  they  were 
thickest,  and  doing  service  to  his  troops  with  his  sword,  since, 
in  the  general  confusion,  he  was  unable  to  command  with  his 
voice. 

The  day  had  now  closed,  yet  the  barbarians  abated  nothing 
of  their  impetuosity,  but,  expecting  that  the  night  would  be 

81  The  Eoman  veterans,  who  were  necessarily  well  experienced  in  war] 
The  reading  of  Cortius  is,  Romwni  veteres,  novique,  et  ob  ea  sclentes  belli  ;  which 
lie  explains  by  supposing  that  the  new  recruits  were  joined  with  the  veterans, 
and  that  both  united  were  consequently  well  skilled  in  war,  citing,  in  sup- 
port of  his  supposition,  a  passage  in  c.  87  :  Sic  breoi  spatio  novi  veteresquo 
coaluere,  et  virtus  omnium  cequalis  facta.  And  Ascensius  had  previously 
given  a  similar  explanation,  quod  etiam  veterani  adeasent.  But  many  later 
critics  have  not  been  induced  to  believe  that  Cortius's  reading  will  bear  any 
such  interpretation  j  and  accordingly  Kritzius,  Dietsch,  and  Orelli,  have 
ejected  novique;  as  indeed  Ciacconius  and  Ursinus  had  long  before  recom- 
mended. Muller,  Burnouf,  and  Allen,  retain  it,  adopting  Cortius's  inter- 
pretation. Gerlach  also  retains  it,  but  not  without  hesitation.  But  it  is 
very  remarkable  that  it  occurs  in  all  the  manuscripts  but  one,  which,  has 
Romani  veteres  boni  scientes  erant  ut  quos  locus,  etc. 


THE  JUGURTITTNK  WAR.  185 

in  their  favor,  pressed  forward,  as  their  kings  had  directed 
them,  with  increased  violence.  Marius,  in  consequence,  re- 
solved upon  a  measure  suited  to  his  circumstances,  and,  that 
his  men  might  have  a  place  of  retreat,  took  possession  of  two 
hills  contiguous  to  each  other,  ou  one  of  which,  too  small  for 
a  camp,  there  was  an  abundant  spring  of  water,  while  the  other, 
being  mostly  elevated  and  steep,  and  requiring  little  fortifica- 
tion, was  suited  for  his  purpose  as  a  place  of  encampment, 
lie  then  ordered  Sylla,  with  a  body  of  cavalry,  to  take  his 
station  for  the  night  on  the  eminence  containing  the  spring, 
while  he  himself  collected  his  scattered  troops  by  degrees,  the 
enemy  being  not  less  disordered,03  and  led  them  all  at  a  quick 
march93  up  the  other  hill.  Thus  the  kings,  obliged  by  the 
strength  of  the  Roman  position,  were  deterred  from  continuing 
the  combat ;  yet  they  did  not  allow  their  men  to  withdraw  to 
a  distance,  but,  surrounding  both  hills  with  a  large  force,  en- 
camped without  any  regular  order.  Having  then  lighted  nu- 
merous fires,  the  barbarians,  after  their  custom,  spent  most  of 
the  night  in  merriment,  exultation,  and  tumultuous  clamor,  the 
kings,  elated  at  having  kept  their  ground,  conducting  them- 
selves as  conquerors.  This  scene,  plainly  visible  to  the  Romans, 
under  cover  of  the  night  and  on  the  higher  ground,  afforded 
great  encouragement  to  them. 

XCIX.  Marius,  accordingly,  deriving  much  confidence  from 
the  imprudence  of  the  enemy,  ordered  the  strictest  possible 
silence  to  be  kept,  not  allowing  even  the  trumpets,  as  was  usual, 
to  be  sounded  when  the  watches  were  changed  ;94  and  then, 
when  day  approached,  and  the  enemy  were  fatigued  and  just 
sinking  to  sleep,  he  ordered  the  sentinels,  with  the  trumpeters 
of  the  auxiliary  cohorts,95  cavalry,  and  legions,  to  sound  all 

M  XCVIII.  The  enemy  being  not  less  disordered]  Neque  minus  hostibus 
conturbatis.  If  the  enemy  had  not  been  in  as  much  disorder  as  himself, 
Marius  would  hardly  have  been  able  to  effect  his  retreat. 

93  At  a  quick  march J  Pleno  gradu.  "  By  the  militarls  gradus  twenty 
miles  were  completed  in  five  hours  ofa  summer  day  ;  by  the  plenus  gradus, 
•which  is  quicker,  twenty-four  miles  were  traversed  in  the  same  time." 
Veget.  i.  9. 

M  XCIX.  When  the  watches  were  changed]  Per  mgilias :  i.  e.  at  the  end 
of  each  watch,  when  the  guards  were  relieved.  "  The  nights,  by  the  aid 
ofa  clepsydra,  were  divided  into  four  watches,  the  termination  of  each  being 
marked  by  the  blast  of  a  trumpet  or  horn.  See  Viget.  iii.  8 :  A  i-ubicint 
vmnes  viguice,  committuntur  ;  etfimtis  horia  a,  cornidne  revocaniur"  Kritzius. 
He  also  refers  to  Liv.  vii.  35 ;  Lucau.  viii.  24;  Tacit.  Hist.  v.  22. 

vi  Auxiliary  cohorts]  Oohortium.  I  have  added  the  word  auxiliary. 
That  they  were  the  cohorts  of  the  auxiliaries  or  allies  is  apparent,  as  tL*> 


186  SALLUST. 

their  instruments  at  once,  and  the  soldiers,  at  the  same  time, 
to  raise  a  shout,  and  sally  forth  from  the  camp00  upon  the  ene- 
my. Ths  Moors  and  Getulians,  suddenly  roused  by  the  strange 
and  terrible  noise,  could  neither  flee,  nor  take  up  arms,  could 
neither  act,  nor  provide  for  their  security,  so  completely  had 
foa",  like  a  stupor,97  from  the  uproar  and  shouting,  the  absence 
of  support,  the  charge  of  our  troops,  and  the  tumult  and 
alarm,  seized  upon  them  all.  The  whole  of  them  were  conse- 
quently routed  and  put  to  flight ;  most  of  their  arms,  and  mili- 
tary standards,  were  taken  ;  and  more  were  killed  in  this  than 
in  all  former  battles,  their  escape  being  impeded  by  sleep  and 
the  sudden  alarm. 

C.  Marius  now  continued  the  route,  which  he  had  com- 
menced, toward  his  winter  quarters,  which,  for  the  convenience 
of  getting  provisions,  he  had  determined  to  fix  in  the  towns  on 
the  coast.  He  was  not,  however,  rendered  careless  or  presumpt- 
uous by  his  victory,  but  marched  with  his  army  in  form  of  a 
square,88  just  as  if  he  were  in  sight  of  the  enemy.  Sylla,  with 
his  cavalry,  was  on  the  right ;  Aulus  Manlius,  Avith  the  slingers 
and  archers,  and  Ligurian  cohorts,  had  the  command  on  the 
left ;  the  tribunes,  with  the  light-armed  infantry,  the  consul 
had  placed  in  the  front  an  1  rear.  The  deserters,  whose  lives 
were  of  little  value,  and  who  were  well  acquainted  with  the 
country,  observed  the  route  of  the  enemy.  Marius  himself, 
too,  as  if  no  other  were  placed  in  charge,  attended  to  every 
thing,  went  through  the  whole  of  the  troops,  and  praised  or 
blamed  them  according  to  their  desert.  lie  was  always  armed 
and  on  the  alert,  and  obliged  his  men  to  imitate  his  example. 
He  fortified  his  camp  with  the  same  caution  with  which  ho 
marched ;  stationing  cohorts  of  the  legions  to  watch  the  gates, 
and  the  auxiliary  cavalry  in  front,  and  others  upon  the  rampart 

•word  legwnum  follows.  Kritzius  indeed  thinks  otherwise,  supposing?  that 
the  cohorts  had  particular  trumpelers,  distinct  from  those  of  the  whole  le- 
gion. But  for  this  notion  there  seems  to  be  no  sufficient  ground.  Sallust 
speaks  of  the  cohortes  sociorum.  c.  58,  and  cohortes  Liyurum,  c.  100. 

*8  Sally  forth  from  the  camp]  Portis  erampere.  Sallust  uses  the  common 
phrase  for  issuing  from  the  camp.  It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  the  Ko- 
mans  had  formed  a  regular  camp  with  gates  during  the  snort  time  that  they 
had  been  upon  the  hill,  especially  as  they  had  fled  to  it  in  great  disorder. 

97  Stupor]  Vecordia.    A  feeling  that  deprived  them  of  all  sense. 

•8  C.  In  form  of  a  square]  Quadrato  agmine.  "  A  hollow  square,  with 
the  baggage  in  the  center;  see  Serv.  ad  Verg.  Mn.  xii.  121.  .  .  .  Such  an 
agrnen  Sallust,  in  c.  46,  calls  munitum,  as  it  was  prepared  to  defend  itself 
against  the  enemy,  from  whatever  quarter  they  might  approach."  Kritzius. 


THE  JUGURTHTNE  WAR  187 

and  lines.  He  went  round  the  posts  in  person,  not  from  sus- 
picion that  his  orders  would  not  be  observed,  but  that  the  labor 
of  the  soldiers,  shared  equally  by  their  general,  might  be  en- 
dured by  them  with  cheerfulness."  Indeed,  Marius,  as  well  at 
this  as  at  other  periods  of  the  war,  kept  his  men  to  their  duty 
rather  by  the  dread  of  shame1  than  of  severity  ;  a  course  which 
many  said  was  adopted  from  desire  of  popularity,  but  some 
thought  it  was  because  he  took  pleasure  in  toils  to  which  he 
had  been  accustomed  from  his  youth,  and  in  exertions  which 
other  men  call  perfect  miseries.  The  public  interest,  however, 
was  served  with  as  much  efficiency  and  honor  as  it  could  have 
been  under  the  most  rigorous  command. 

CI.  At  length,  on  the  fourth  day  of  his  march,  when  he 
was  not  far  from  the  town  of  Cirta,  his  scouts  suddenly  made 
their  appearance  from  all  quarters  at  once  ;  a  circumstance  by 
which  the  enemy  was  known  to  be  at  hand.  But  as  they  came 
in  from  different  points,  and  all  gave  the  same  account,  the 
consul,  doubting  in  what  form  to  draw  up  his  army,  made  no 
alteration  in  it,  but  halted  where  he  was,  being  already  pre- 
pared for  every  contingency.  Jugurtha's  expectations,  in  con- 
sequence, disappointed  him ;  for  he  had  divided  his  force  into 
four  bodies,  trusting  that  one  of  them,  assuredly,2  would 
surprise  the  Romans  in  the  rear.  Sylla,  meanwhile,  with 
whom  they  first  came  in  contact,  having  cheered  on  his  men, 
charged  the  Moors,  in  person  and  with  his  officers,3  \vith  troop 
after  troop  of  cavalry,  in  the  closest  order  possible;  while  the 
rest  of  his  force,  retaining  their  position,  protected  themselves 
against  the  darts  thrown  from  a  distance,  and  killed  such  of  the 
enemy  as  fell  into  their  hands. 

While  the  cavalry  was  thus  engaged,  Bocchus,  with  his  in- 
fantry, which  his  son  Vulux  had  brought  up,  and  which,  from 
delay  on  their  march,  had  not  been  present  in  the  former  battle, 
assailed  the  Romans  in  the  rear.  Marius  was  at  that  moment 

99  Might  be  endured  by  them  with  cheerfulness]  Volentibus  esset.  A 
Greek  phrase,  [lov?i,o/j.t-voi(  elrj. 

1  Dread  of  shame]  Pudore.  Inducing  each  to  have  a  regard  to  his  char- 
acter. 

*  CI.  Trusting  that  one  of  them,  assuredly,  etc.]  Ratus  ex  omnibus  ague 
allquos  ab  t*r(i<>  }i">>iil>i:s  •veniuros.  By  tzque  Sallust  signifies  that  each  of  the 
four  bodies  would  have  an  equal  chance  of  coming  on  the  rear  of  tho 
Jlomans. 

3  In  person  and  with  his  officers]  Ipsenliique.  "  The  alii  are  the  prcefecti 
equitiim,  officers  of  the  cavalry."  KrUziut. 


188  SALLUST. 

occupied  in  front,  as  Jugurtha  was  there  with  his  largest  force. 
The  Numidian  king,  hearing  of  the  arrival  of  Bocchus, 
wheeled  secretly  about,  with  a  few  of  his  followers,  to  the 
infantry,4  and  exclaimed  in  Latin,  which  he  had  learned  lo 
speak  at  Numantia,  "  that  our  men  were  struggling  in  vain ; 
for  that  he  had  just  slain  Marius  with  his  own  hand ;"  showing, 
at  the  same  time,  his  sword  besmeared  with  blood,  which  he 
had,  indeed,  sufficiently  stained  by  vigorously  cutting  down  our 
infantry.5  When  the  soldiers  heard  this,  they  felt  a  shock, 
though  rather  at  the  horror  of  such  an  event,  than  from  belief 
in  him  who  asserted  it;  the  barbarians,  on  the  other  hand, 
assumed  fresh  courage,  and  advanced  with  greater  fury  on  the 
disheartened  Romans,  who  were  just  on  the  point  of  taking  to 
flight,  when  Sylla,  having  routed  those  to  whom  he  had  been 
opposed,  fell  upon  the  Moors  in  the  flank.  Bocchus  instantly 
fled.  Jugurtha,  anxious  to  support  his  men,  and  to  secure  a 
victory  so  nearly  won,  was  surrounded  by  our  cavalry,  and  all 
his  attendants,  right  and  left,  being  slain,  had  to  force  a  way 
alone,  with  great  difficulty,  through  the  weapons  of  the  enemy. 
Marius,  at  the  same  time,  having  put  to  flight  the  cavalry,  came 
up  to  support  such  of  his  men  as  he  had  understood  to  be 
giving  ground.  At  last  the  enemy  were  defeated  in  every 
quarter.  The  spectacle  on  the  open  plains  was  then  frightful ;" 

*  Wheeled  secretly  about — to  the  infantry]  Clam, — ad  pedites  convortit. 
What  infantry  are  meant,  the  commentators  can  not  agree,  nor  is  there  any 
thing  in  the  narrative  on  which  a  satisfactory  decision  can  be  founded.     As 
the  arrival  of  Bocchus  is  mentioned  immediately  before,  Cortius  supposes 
that  the  infantry  of  Bocchus  are  signified  ;  and  it  may  be  so  ;  but  to  what- 
ever party  the  words  were  addressed,  they  were  intended  to  be  heard  by 
the  Romans,  or  for  what  purpose  were  they  spoken  in  Latin  ?    Jugurtha 
may  have  spoken  the  words  in  both  languages,  and  this,  from  what  follows, 
would  appear  to  have  been  the  case,  for  both  sides  understood  him.     Qnod 
ubi  milites  (evidently  the  Roman  soldiers)  accepere — simul  barbari  aninwx 
tollere,  etc.    The  clam  signifies  that  Jugurtha  turned  about,  or  wheeled  off, 
so  as  to  escape  the  notice  of  Marius,  with  whom  he  had  been  contending. 

6  By  vigorously  cutting  down  our  infantry]  Satis  impigr'e  occiso  pedite 
nostro.  ''A  ccs  mots  il  leur  montra  son  dipec  teinte  du  sang  des  notres, 

•  dont  il  venait,  en  effet,  de  faire  une  assez  cruello  boucherie."  De  Brasses. 
Of  the  other  French  translators,  Beauzee  and  Le  Brim  render  the  passage 
in  a  similar  way;  Dotteville  and  Bureau  Delamalle,  as  well  as  all  our 
English  translators,  take  pedite  as  signifying  only  one  soldier.  Sir  Henry 
Steuart  even  specifies  that  it  was  "  a  legionary  soldier."  The  commenta- 
tors, I  should  suppose,  have  all  regarded  the  word  as  having  a  plural  signift- 

.  cation :  none  of  them,  except  Burnouf,  who  expresses  a  needless  doubt,  say 
any  thing  on  the  point. 

•  The  spectacle  on  the  open  plains  was  then  frightful,  etc.]    Tumspectam- 
lum  IwrriUle  campis  patentibus,  etc.  The  idea  of  this  passage  was  probably 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAK.  189 

some  were  pursuing,  others  fleeing;  some  were  being  slain, 
others  captured  ;  men  and  horses  were  dashed  to  the  earth ; 
many,  who  were  wounded,  could  neither  flee  nor  remain  at  rest, 
attempting  to  rise,  and  instantly  falling  back ;  and  the  whole 
field,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  was  strewed  with  arms 
and  dead  bodies,  and  the  intermediate  spaces  saturated  with 
blood. 

GIL  At  length  the  consul,  now  indisputably  victor,  arrived 
at  the  town  of  Cirta,  whither  he  had  at  first  intended  to  go. 
To  this  place,  on  the  fifth  day  after  the  second  defeat  of  the 
barbarians,  came  messengers  from  Bocchus,  who,  in  the  king's 
name,  requested  of  Marius  to  send  him  two  persons  in  whom 
he  had  full  confidence,  as  he  wished  to  confer  with  them  on 
matters  concerning  both  the  interest  of  the  Roman  people  and 
his  own.  Marius  immediately  dispatched  Sylla  and  Aulus  Man- 
lius ;  who,  though  they  went  at  the  king's  invitation,  thought 
proper,  notwithstanding,  to  address  him  first,  in  the  hope  of 
altering  his  sentiments,  if  he  were  unfavorable  to  peace,  or  of 
strengthening  his  inclination,  if  he  were  disposed  to  it.  Sylla, 
therefore,  to  whose  superiority,  not  in  years  but  in  elo- 
quence, Maulius  yielded  precedence,  spoke  to  Bocchus  briefly 
as  follows : 

"  It  gives  us  great  pleasure,  King  Bocchus,  that  the  gods 
have  at  length  induced  a  man,  so  eminent  as  yourself,  to  prefer 
peace  to  war,  and  no  longer  to  stain  your  own  excellent  char- 
taken,  as  Ciacconius  intimates,  from  a  description  in  Xenophon.  Agesil.  ii.  12, 
14,  partof  which  is  quoted  by  Longinus,  Sect.  19,  as  an  example  of  the  effect 
produced  by  the  omission  of  conjunctions:  Kal  ov[t/3a?MVTee  raf  dctTridaf 

(udoVVTO,  C/J.UXOVTO,  UTTEKTeiVOV,  tl~if>VT]C!KOV.       .       .       .    'Emi  JS  flt]V  £/l^ff  V 

6r)  OeuaaaOai  evda  avvineaov  d/,/l?/Ao4f,  TT)V  (J.EV  JTJV  uifiari 
Kpoi>£  6£  i\eifj.evovf  <t>t7i.iovf  Kal  TroAe^uuwf  /zer'  UA^JJ^UV,  uaTri- 
f,  dopara  avvTeOpava/j.£va,  iyxEipidia  yvfjLvti  Knv'Xeuv 
TU  jj.lv  ^a/zat,  TU  6'  iv  aufiaai,  TU  (F  ITI.  fierd  xelpaf.  "  Closing  their 
shields  together,  they  pushed,  they  fought,  they  slew,  they  were  slain. 

But  w'heu  the  battle  was  over,  you  might  have  seen,  where 

they  had  fought,  the  ground  clotted  with  blood,  the  corpses  of  frieuds  and 
enemies  mingled  together,  and  pierced  shields,  broken  lances,  and  swords 
without  their  sheaths,  strewed  on  the  ground,  sticking  in  the  dead  bodies, 
or  still  remaining  in  the  hands  that  had  wielded  them  when  alive."  Tacitus, 
Agric.  c.  37,  has  copied  this  description  of  Sallust,  as  all  the  commentators 
have  remarked  :  Tarn  vero  patentibuf;  locis  qrande  et  afrox  speclaculvm. 

Stqui,  v/dnerare,  capere,  atque  eosdem,  oblatis  aliis,  trucidare 

Pa-'isim  armi  el  corpora,  et  lacen  artns,  et  cruenta  humus.  "  The  si<_^:t  0:1 
the  open  field  was  then  striking  and  horrible;  they  pursued,  they  inflicted 
wounds,  they  took  men  prisoiiL-rs.  and  slaughtered  them  as  others  prcsent- 
'•  1  themselves.  .  .  .  Every  where  were  seen  arms  and  corpses,  mangled 
limbo,  and  the  ground  stained  with  blood." 


190  SALLUST. 

acter  by  an  alliance  with  Jugurtha,  the  most  infamous  of 
mankind ;  and  to  relieve  us,  at  the  same  time,  from  the  dis- 
agreeable necessity  of  visiting  with  the  same  punishment  your 
errors  and  his  crimes.  Besides,  the  Roman  people,  even  from 
the  very  infancy7  of  their  state,  have  thought  it  better  to  seek 
friends  than  slaves,  thinking  it  safer  to  rule  over  willing  than 
forced  subjects.  But  to  you  no  friendship  can  be  more  suitable 
than  ours ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  we  are  at  a  distance  from  you, 
on  which  account  there  will  be  the  less  chance  of  misunder- 
standing between  us,  while  our  good  feeling  for  you  will  be  as 
strong  as  if  we  were  near ;  and,  secondly,  because,  though  we 
have  subjects  in  abundance,  yet  neither  we,  nor  any  other 
nation,  can  ever  have  a  sufficiency  of  friends.  Would  that 
such  had  been  your  inclination  from  the  first ;  for  then  you 
would  assuredly,  before  this  time,  have  received  from  the  Roman 
people  more  benefits  than  you  have  now  Buffered  evils.  But 
since  Fortune  has  the  chief  control  in  human  affairs,  and  it  has 
pleased  her  that  you  should  experience  our  force  as  well  as  our 
favor,  now,  when  she  gives  you  this  fair  opportunity,  embrace 
it  without  delay,  and  complete  the  course  which  you  have 
begun.  You  have  many  and  excellent  means  of  atoning,  with 
great  ease,  for  past  errors  by  future  services.  Impress  this, 
however,  deeply  on  your  mind,  that  the  Roman  people  are 
never  outdone  in  acts  of  kindness ;  of  their  power  in  war  you 
have  already  sufficient  knowledge." 

To  this  address  Bocchus  made  a  temperate  and  courteous 
reply,  offering  a  few  observations,  at  the  same  time,  in  extenua- 
tion of  his  error ;  and  saying  "  that  he  had  taken  arms,  not  with 
any  hostile  feeling,  but  to  defend  his  own  dominions,  as  part  of 
Numidia,  out  of  which  he  had  forcibly  driven  Jugurtha,*  was 

T  CII.  Besides,  the  Roman  people,  even  from  the  very  infancy,  etc.]  The 
reading  of  this  passage,  before  the  edition  of  Cortius,  was  this  :  Ad  hoc, 
populo  Romano  jam  a  principio  inopi  melias  mmum  amicos,  quam  servos, 
qucerere.  Gruter  proposed  to  read  Ad  IKJC  populo  Romano  inopi  mdiiis  est 
visum.Qtc.,  whence  Cortius  made  Ad  hoc,  populo  Romano  jam  inopi  visum, 
etc.  But  the  Bipont  editors,  observing  that  mopi  was  not  quite  consistent 
with  qucerere  servos,  altered  the  passage  to  Ad  hoc,  populo  Romano  jam  a 
principio  reipublicos,  rnelius  visum,  etc.,  which  seems  to  be  the  best  emenda- 
tion that  has  been  proposed,  und  which  I  have  accordingly  followed. 


mdi/us  on  no  authority  but  his  own. 

*  Out  of  which  he  had  forcibly  driven  Jugurtlia]    Untie  vi  Juyuriham  ex- 
pulerit  [expulerat].     There  is  here  sotno  obscurity.     Tlic  manuscripts  vary 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  191 

liis  by  right  of  conquest,  and  be  could  not  allow  it  to  be  laid 
waste  by  Marius ;  that  when  he  formerly  sent  embassadors  to 
the  Romans,  he  was  refused  their  friendship  ;  but  that  he  would 
say  nothing  more  of  the  past,  and  would,  if  Marius  gave  him 
permission,  send  another  embassy  to  the  senate."  But  no 
sooner  was  this  permission  granted,  than  the  purpose  of  the 
barbarian  was  altered  by  some  of  his  friends,  whom  Jugurtha, 
hearing  of  the  mission  of  Sylla  and  Manlius,  and  fearful  of  what 
was  intended  by  it,  had  corrupted  with  bribes. 

CIII.  Marius,  in  the  mean  time,  having  settled  his  army  in 
winter  quarters,  set  out,  with  the  light-armed  cohorts  and  part 
of  the  cavalry,  into  a  desert  part  of  the  country,  to  besiege  a 
fortress  of  Jugurtha's,  in  which  he  had  placed  a  garrison  con- 
sisting wholly  of  Roman  deserters.  And  now  again  Bocchus, 
either  from  reflecting  on  what  he  had  suffered  in  the  two 
engagements,  or  from  being  admonished  by  such  of  his  friends 
as  Jugurtha  had  not  corrupted,  selected,  out  of  the  whole 
number  of  his  adherents,  five  persons  of  approved  integrity  and 
eminent  abilities,  whom  he  directed  to  go,  in  the  first  place,  to 
Marius,  and  afterward  to  proceed,  if  Marius  gave  his  consent,  as 
embassadors  to  Rome,  granting  them  full  powers  to  treat  con- 
cerning his  affairs,  and  to  conclude  the  Avar  upon  any  terms 
whatsoever.  These  five  immediately  set  out  for  the  Roman 
winter-quarters,  but  being  beset  and  spoiled  by  Getulian  robbe1.  s 
on  the  way,  fled,  in  alarm  and  ill  plight,9  to  Sylla,  whom  the 
consul,  when  he  went  on  his  expedition,  had  left  as  pro-pra3tor 
with  the  army.  Sylla  received  them,  not,  as  they  had  deserved, 
like  faithless  enemies,  but  with  the  greatest  ceremony  and 
munificence ;  from  which  the  barbarians  concluded  that  what 
was  said  of  Roman  avarice  was  false,  and  that  Sylla,  from  his 
generosity,  must  be  their  friend.  For  interested  bounty,10  in 

between  expulerit  and  expulerit.     Cortius,  and  Gerlach  in  his  second  edi- 
tion, adopt  expukrat,  which  they  of  necessity  refer  to  Marius  ;  but  to  make 
Bocchus  speak  thus,  is,  as  Kritzius  says,  to  make  him  epeak  very  foolishly 
I  and  arrogantly.     Kritzius  himself,  accordingly,  adopts  expulerit,  and  sup- 
'  poses  that  Bocchus  invents  a  falsehood,  in  the  belief  that  the  Romans  would 
have  no  means  of  detecting  it.     But  Bocohus  may  have  spoken  truth,  re- 
ferring, as  Muller  suggests,  to  some  previous  transactions  between  him 
and  Jugurtha,  to  which  Sallust  does  not  elsewhere  allude. 

9  CIII.  In  ill  plight]  Sine  decore. 

10  Interested  bounty]  Largitio.    "  The  word  signifies  liberal  treatment  of 
others  vith   a  view  to  our  own    interest;   without  any  real  goodwill." 
Mutter.    "  He  intends  a  severe  stricture  on  his  own  age,  and  the  uiiinuers 
of  the  Romans."  Dietech. 


192  'SALLUST. 

those  days,  was  still  unknown  to  many ;  by  whom  every  man 
who  was  liberal  was  also  thought  benevolent,  and  all  presents 
were  considered  to  proceed  from  kindness.  They  therefore  dis- 
closed to  the  quaestor  their  commission  from  Bocchus,  and 
asked  him  to  be  their  patron  and  adviser  ;  extolling,  at  the 
same  time,  the  power,  integrity,  and  grandeur  of  their 
monarch,  and  adding  whatever  they  thought  likely  to  promote 
their  objects,  or  to  procure  the  favor  of  Sylla.  Sylla  promised 
them  all  that  they  requested;  and,  being  instructed  how  to 
address  Marius  and  the  senate,  they  tarried  in  the  camp  about 
forty  days.11 

CIV.  When  Marius,  having  failed  in  the  object12  of  his  ex- 
pedition, returned  to  Cirta,  and  was  informed  of  the  arrival  of 
the  embassadors,  he  desired  both  them  and  Sylla  to  come  to 
him,  together  with  Lucius  Bellienus,  the  praetor  from  Utica, 
and  all  that  were  of  senatorial  rank  in  any  part  of  the  country, 
with  whom  he  discussed  the  instructions  of  Bocchus  to  his 
embassadors ;  to  whom  permission  to  proceed  to  Rome  was 
granted  by  the  consul.  In  the  mean  time  a  truce  was  asked,  a 
request  to  which  assent  was  readily  expressed  by  Sylla  and  the 
majority  ;  the  few,  who  advocated  harsher  measures,  were  men 
inexperienced  in  human  affairs,  which,  unstable  and  fluctuating, 
are  always  verging  to  opposite  extremes.13 

The  Moors  having  obtained  all  that  they  desired,  three  of 
them  started  for  Rome  with  Cneius  Octavius  Rufus,  who,  as 
quaestor,  had  brought  pay  for  the  army  to  Africa;  the  other 
two  returned  to  Bocchus,  who  heard  from  them,  with  great 
pleasure,  their  account  both  of  other  particulars,  and  especially 
of  the  courtesy  and  attention  of  Sylla. 

To  his  three  embassadors  that  went  to  Rome,  when,  after  a 
deprecatory  acknowledgment  that  their  king  had  been  in 
error,  and  had  been  led  astray  by  the  treachery  of  Jugurtha, 
they  solicited  for  him  friendship  and  alliance,  the  following 
answer  was  given:  "The  senate  and  people  of  Rome  are 

11  About  forty  days]  Waiting,  apparently,  for  the  return  of  Marius. 

12  CIV.  Having  failed  in  the  object,  etc.]   Infecto,  quo  intenderat,  ncgot'w. 
Though  this  is  the  reading  of  most  of  the  manuscripts,  Kritzius,  Midler, 
and  Dietech,  read  confecto,  as  if  Marius  could  not  have  failed  in  Ms  attempt. 

13  Are  always  verging  to  opposite  extremes]  Semper  in  arlwrsa  mutari. 
Kose  renders  this  "  are  always  changing,  and  constantly  for  the  worse ;" 
and  most  other  translators  have  given  something  similar.     But  this  is  ab- 
Hiird ;  for  every  one  sees  that  all  changes  in  human  affairs  are  not  for  the 
worse.     Adversa  is  evidently  to  be  taken  in  the  sense  which  I  hav«  ^iven. 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  193 

wont  to  be  mindful  of  both  services  and  injuries ;  they  par- 
don Bocchus,  since  lie  repents  of  his  fault,  and  will  grant  him 
their  alliance  and  friendship  when  he  shall  have  deserved 
them." 

CV.  When  this  reply  was  communicated  to  Bocchus,  he 
requested  Marius,  by  letter,  to  send  Sylla  to  him,  that,  at  his 
discretion,14  measures  might  be  adopted  for  their  common  in- 
terest. Sylla  was  accordingly  dispatched,  attended  with  a 
guard  of  cavalry,  infantry,  and  Balearic  slingers,  besides  some 
archers  and  a  Pelignian  cohort,  who,  for  the  sake  of  expedi- 
tion, were  furnished  with  light  arms,  which,  however,  pro- 
tected them,  as  efficiently  as  any  others,  against  the  light 
darts  of  the  enemy.  As  he  was  on  his  march,  on  the  fifth 
day  after  he  set  out,  Volux,  the  son  of  Bocchus,  suddenly 
appeared  on  the  open  plain  with  a  body  of  cavalry,  which 
amounted  in  reality  to  not  more  than  a  thousand,  but  which, 
as  they  approached  in  confusion  and  disorder,  presented  to 
Sylla  and  the  rest  the  appearance  of  a  greater  number,  and 
excited  apprehensions  of  hostility.  Every  one,  therefore,  pre- 
pared himself  for  action,  trying  and  presenting15  his  arms  and 
weapons ;  some  fear  was  felt  among  them,  but  greater  hope, 
as  they  were  now  conquerors,  and  were  only  meeting  those 
whom  they  had  often  overcome.  After  a  while,  however,  a 
party  of  horse  sent  forward  to  reconnoiter,  reported,  as  was 
the  case,  that  nothing  but  peace  was  intended. 

CVI.  Volux,  coming  forward,  addressed  himself  to  Sylla, 
saying  that  lie  was  sent  by  Bocchus  his  father  to  meet  and 
escort  him.  The  two  parties  accordingly  formed  a  junction, 
and  prosecuted  their  journey,  on  that  day  and  the  following, 
without  any  alarm.  But  when  they  had  pitched  their  camp, 
and  evening  had  set  in,  Volux  came  running,  with  looks  of 
perplexity,  to  Sylla,  and  said  that  he  had  learned  from  his 
scouts  that  Jugurtha  was  at  hand,  entreating  and  urging  him, 
at  the  same  time,  to  escape  with  him  privately  in  the  night. 
Sylla  boldly  replied,  "  that  he  had  no  fear  of  Jugurtha,  an 

14  CV.  At  his  discretion]  Arbitratu.    Kritzius  observes  that  this  word 
comprehends  the  notion  of  plenary  powers  to  treat  and  decide :  der  mit 
unb&chrdnlcter  YoUmacht  -unterhanddn  kunnte 

15  Presenting]  Infendere.    The  critics  are  in  doubt  to  what  to  refer  this 
word;  some  have i  thought  of  understanding  animum;  Cortius,  "Wasse,  and 
M  Siller,  think  it  is  meant  only  of  the  bows  of  the  archers;  Kritzins,  Bur- 
nout', and  Allen,  refer  it,  apparently  with  better  judgment,  to  the  arnui  and 
(•la  iu  general. 

9 


194  SALLUST. 

enemy  so  often  defeated ;  that  he  had  the  utmost  confidence 
in  the  valor  of  his  troops ;  and  that,  even  if  certain  destruc- 
tion were  at  hand,  he  would  rather  keep  his  ground,  than 
save,  by  deserting  his  followers,  a  life  at  best  uncertain,  and 
perhaps  soon  to  be  lost  by  disease."  Being  pressed,  however, 
by  Volux,  to  set  forward  in  the  night,  he  approved  of  the 
suggestion,  and  immediately  ordered  his  men  to  dispatch 
their  supper,18  to  light  as  many  fires  as  possible  in  the  camp, 
and  to  set  out  in  silence  at  the  first  watch. 

When  they  were  all  fatigued  with  their  march  during  the 
night,  and  Sylla  was  preparing,  at  sunrise,  to  pitch  his 
camp,  the  Moorish  cavalry  announced  that  Jugurtha  was  en- 
camped about  two  miles  in  advance.  At  this  report,  great 
dismay  fell  upon  our  men ;  for  they  believed  themselves  be- 
trayed by  Volux,  and  led  into  an  ambuscade.  Some  ex- 
claimed that  they  ought  to  take  vengeance  on  him  at  once, 
and  not  suffer  such  perfidy  to  remain  unpunished. 

CVII.  But  Sylla,  though  he  had  similar  thoughts,  pro- 
tected the  Moor  from  violence ;  exhorting  his  soldiers  to 
keep  up  their  spirits ;  and  saying,  "  that  a  handful  of  brave 
men  had  often  fought  successfully  against  a  rnuliitude;  that 
the  less  anxious  they  were  to  save  their  lives  in  battle,  the 
greater  would  be  their  security  ;  arid  that  no  man,  who  had 
arms  in  his  hands,  ought  to  trust  for  safety  to  his  unarmed 
heels,  or  to  turn  to  the  enemy,  in  however  great  danger,  the 
defenseless  and  blind  parts  of  his  body."  i7  Having  then 
called  almighty  Jupiter  to  witness  the  guilt  and  perfidy  of 
Bocchus,  he  ordered  Volux,  «s  being  an  instrument  of  hi? 
father's  hostility,18  to  quit  the  camp. 

Volux,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  entreated  him  to  entertain 
no  such  suspicions;  declaring  "that  nothing  in  the  i'.fi'uir  had 
been  caused  by  treachery  on  his  part,  but  all  by  the  subtilty 

i«  CVI.  To  dispatch  their  supper]  Cxnatos  ewe.  "  The  perfect  is  not 
•without  its  force  ;  it  signifies  that  Sylla  wished  his  orders  to  be  performed 
with  the  greatest  expedition."  Kritzius.  He  orders  them  to  hare  done 
supper. 

17  CVII.  And  blindparts  of  his  body]  Caecum  corpus.  Imitated  from  Xeno 
phon,  Cyrop.  iii.  3,  45 :  M.upov  yap  TO  Kparelv  f3ov^o/j.evovf ,  TO.  TV<J>?.U,  rot) 
cufiarof,    KOI    ao-x^a,    KOL    axeipa,    ravra    tvavria  TUTTCIV   rolf  Tto7iE- 
fiioir  (pevyovraf.     "It  is  folly  for  those  that  desire  to  conquer,  to  turn  tho 
blind,  unarmed,  and  handless  parts  of  the  body,  to  the  enemy  in  flight." 

18  As  being  an  instrument  of  his  father's  hostility]    Quoniam  hostilia 
/acertt.     "Since  he  wished  to  deceive  the  Romans  by  pretended  fricnd- 
Bi.ip."     Miiller 


THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR.  195 

of  Jugurtha,  to  whom  his  line  of  march  had  become  known 
through  his  scouts.  But  as  Jugurtha  had  no  great  force  with 
him,  and  as  his  hopes  and  resources  were  dependent  on  his 
father  Bocchus,  he  assuredly  would  not  attempt  any  open 
violence,  when  the  son  of  Bocchus  would  himself  be  a  witness 
of  it.  He  thought  it  best  for  Sylla,  therefore,  to  inarch 
boldly  through  the  middle  of  his  camp,  and  that  as  for  him- 
self, he  would  either  send  forward  his  Moors,  or  leave  them 
where  they  were,  and  accompany  Sylla  alone."  This  course, 
under  such  circumstances,  was  adopted ;  they  set  forward 
without  delay,  and,  as  they  came  upon  Jugurtha  unexpectedly, 
while  he  was  in  doubt  and  hesitation  how  to  act,  they  passed 
without  molestation.  lu  a  few  days  afterward,  they  arrived  at 
the  place  to  which  their  march  was  directed. 

CVIII.  There  was,  at  this  time,  in  constant  and  familiar 
intercourse  with  Bocchus,  a  Numidian  named  Aspar,  who  had 
been  sent  to  him  by  Jugurtha,  when  he  heard  of  Sylla's  in- 
tended interview,  in  the  character  of  embassador,  but  secretly 
to  be  a  spy  on  the  Mauretanian  king's  proceedings.  There  was 
also  with  him  a  certain  Dabar,  son  of  Massugrada,  one  of  the 
family  of  Masinissa,10  but  of  inferior  birth  on  the  maternal 
side,  as  his  father  was  the  son  of  a  concubine.  Dabar,  for 
his  many  intellectual  endowments,  was  liked  and  esteemed  by 
Bocchus,  who,  having  found  him  faithful20  on  many  former 
occasions,  sent  him  forthwith  to  Sylla,  to  say  "that  he  was 
ready  to  do  Avhatever  the  Romans  desired;  that  Sylla  him- 
self should  appoint  the  place,  day,  and  hour,21  for  a  confer- 
ence ;  that  he  kept  all  points,  which  he  IKK!  settled  with  him 
before,  inviolate  ;2U  and  that  ho  was  not  to  fear  the  presence  of 

19  CVIII.  Of  the  family  of  Masinissa]  Ex  gente  ATasinissce.    -Massugrada 
was  the  son  of  Masinissa  by  a  concubine. 

20  Faithful]  Fidum.   After  this  word,  in  the  editions  of  Cortius,  Kritzius, 
Gerlach,  Alien,  and  Dietsch,  follows   Romanis  or  esse  Romanis.     These 
critics  defend  Romanis  on  the  plea  that  a  dative  is  necessary  after  felum. 
and  that  it  was  of  importance,  as  Castilioueus  observes  that  ihibar  should 
be  well  disposed  toward  the  Romans,  and  not  have  been  corrupted,  like 
many  other  courtiers  of  Bocchus,  by  the  bribes  of  Jugurtha.    Glareanus, 
Badius  Asoensius,  the  Bipont  editors,  and  Burnouf,  with  most  of  the  trans- 
lators, omit  Romanis,  and  I  have   thought    proper  to  imitate   their  ex- 
ample. 

41  Place,  day,  and  hour]  Diem,  locum,  tempus.  Not  only  the  day,  but 
the  time  of  the  day. 

M  That  he  kept'all  points,  which  he  had  settled  with  him  before,  invio- 
late] (Jonxiilta  aese  omnia  cum  illo  intrgra  lialwe.  Kritzius  justly  observes 
th.it  most  editors,  in  interpreting  this  passage,  have  erroneously  given  to 


196  SALLUST. 

Jugurtha's  ambassador  as  any  restraint23  on  the  discussion  of 
their  common  interests,  since,  without  admitting  him,  he 
could  have  no  security  against  Jugurtha's  treachery."  I  find, 
however,  that  it  was  rather  from  African  duplicity24  than  from 
the  motives  which  he  professed,  that  Bocchus  thus  allured 
Loth  the  Romans  and  Jugurtha  with  the  hopes  of  peace ; 
that  he  frequently  debated  with  himself  whether  he  should 
deliver  Jugurtha  to  the  Romans,  or  Sylla  to  Jugurtha ;  and 
that  his  inclination  swayed  him  against  us,  but  his  fears  in 
our  favor. 

CIX.  Sylla  replied,  "  that  he  should  speak  on  but  few  partic- 
ulars before  Aspar,  and  discuss  others  at  a  private  meeting,  or 
in  the  presence  of  only  a  few ; "  dictating,  at  the  same  time, 
what  answer  should  be  returned  by  Bocchus.26  Afterward, 
when  they  met,  as  Bocchus  had  desired,  Sylla  stated,  "that 
he  had.  come,  by  order  of  the  consul,  to  inquire  Avhether  ho 
would  resolve  on  peace  or  on  war."  Bocchus,  as  he  had  been 
previously  instructed  by  Sylla,  requested  him  to  come  again  at 
the  end  of  ten  days,  since  he  had  r.s  yet  formed  no  determina- 
tion, but  would  at  that  time  give  a  decisive  answer.  Both  then 
retired  to  their  respective  camps.20  But  when  the  night  was 
far  advanced,  Sylla  was  secretly  sent  for  by  Bocchus.  At  their 

consuUa  the  sense  of  con«ulenda  •  and  that  the  sense  is,  "  that  all  that  he  had 
arranged  with  Sylla  before,  remained  unaltered,  and  that  he  was  not  drawn 
from  his  resolutions  by  the  influence  of  Jugurtha." 

33  And  that  he  was  not  to  fear  the  presence  of  Jugurtha's  embassador, 
as  any  restraint,  etc.]  Neu  Jugurthce  legatum pertimesceret,  quo  res  communis 
Ucentius  gereretur.  There  is  some  difficulty  in  this  passage.  Burnouf  makes 
the  nearest  approach  to  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  it.  "  Sylla,"  says  he, 
"  was  not  to  i'ear  the  envoy  of  Jugurtha,  quo,  on  which  account  (equivalent 
to  eoque,  and  on.  that  account,  i.  e.  on  account  of  his  freedom  from  appre- 
hension) their  common  interests  would  be  more  freely  arranged."  Yet  it 
appears  from  what  follows  that  fear  of  Jugurtha's  envoy  could  not  be  dis- 
missed, and  that  there  could  be  no  freedom  of  discussion  in  his  presence,  as 
Sylla  was  to  say  but  little  before  hirn,  and  to  speak  more  at  large  at  a  pri- 
vate meeting.  These  considerations  have  induced  Kritzius  to  suppose  that 
the  word  remote,  or  something  similar,  has  been  lost  after  quo.  The  Bipont 
editors  inserted  cautum  esse  before  quo,  which  is  without  authority,  and 
does  not  at  all  assist  the  sense. 

44  African  duplicity]  Punica,  fide.  "  Punicafides  was  a  well-known  pro- 
verbial expression  for  treachery  and  deceit.  The  origin  of  it  is  perhaps  at- 
tributable not  so  much  to  fact,  as  to  the  implacable  hatred  of  tiie  Komans 
toward  the  Carthaginians."  Burnovf. 

-i  CIX.  What  answer  should  bu  returned  by  Bocchus]  That  is,  in  the 
presence  of  Aspar. 

*s  Both  then  retired  to  their  respective  camps]  Deinde  ambo  in  s-ua  castra 
diyressi.  Both,  i.  e.  Bocchus  and  Sylla,  not  Aspar  and  Sylla,  as  Cortiu* 
imagines. 


THE  JUOURTHINE  WAR.  197 

interview,  none  but  confidential  interpreters  were  admitted  on 
either  side,  together  with  Dabar,  the  messenger  between  them, 
a  man  of  honor,  and  held  in  esteem  by  both  parties.  The  king 
at  once  commenced  thus  : 

CX.  "  I  never  expected  that  I,  the  greatest  monarch  in  this 
part  of  the  world,  and  the  richest  of  all  whom  I  know,  should 
ever  owe  a  favor  to  a  private  man.  Indeed,  Sylla,  before  I 
knew  you,  I  gave  assistance  to  many  who  solicited  me,  and  to 
others  without  solicitation,  and  stood  in  need  of  no  man's  assist- 
ance. But  at  this  loss  of  independence,  at  which  others  are 
wont  to  repine,  I  am  rather  inclined  to  rejoice.  It  will  be  a 
pleasure  to  me"  to  have  once  needed  your  friendship,  than 
which  I  hold  nothing  dearer  to  my  heart.  Of  the  sincerity 
of  this  assertion  you  may  at  once  make  trial ;  take  my  arms, 
my  soldiers,  my  money,  or  whatever  you  please,  and  use  it  as 
your  own.  But  do  not  suppose,  as  long  as  you  live,  that  your 
kindness  to  me  has  been  fully  requited  ;  my  sense  of  it  will  al- 
ways remain  undiminished,  and  you  shall,  with  my  knowl- 
edge, wish  for  nothing  in  vain.  For,  as  I  am  of  opinion,  it 
is  less  dishonorable  to  a  prince  to  be  conquered  in  battle  than 
to  be  surpassed  in  generosity. 

"  With  respect  to  your  republic,  whose  interests  you  are  sent 
to  guard,  hear  briefly  what  I  have  to  say.  I  have  neither  made 
war  upon  the  Roman  people,  nor  desired  that  it  should  be 
made ;  I  have  merely  defended  my  territories  with  arms  against 
an  armed  force.  But  from  hostilities,  since  such  is  your  pleas- 
ure, I  now  desist.  Prosecute  the  war  with  Jugurtha  as  you 
think  proper.  The  river  Mulucha,  which  was  the  boundary 
between  Miscipsa  and  me,  I  shall  neither  pass  myself,  nor  suffer 
Jugurtha  to  come  within  it.  And  if  you  shall  ask  any  thing 
besides,  worthy  of  me  and  of  yourself,  you  shall  not  depart 
with  a  refusal." 

CXI.  To  this  speech  Sylla  replied,  as  far  as  concerned  him- 
self, briefly  and  modestly ;  but  spoke,  with  regard  to  the  peace 
and  their  common  concerns,  much  more  at  length.  He  signi- 
fied to  the  king  "  that  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome,  as  they 

87  CX.  It  will  be  a  pleasure  to  me]  Fuerit  mihi.  Some  editions,  as  that 
of  Langius,  the  Bipont,  and  Burnouf 's,  have  fuerit  mihi  pretium.  Some- 
thing <jf  the  kind  seems  to  be  wanting.  "  Kes  in  bonis  numeranda  fuerit 
mihi."  £urnvitf.  Allen,  w_hp  omits  pretium,  interprets,  "  Grata  mihi 
egestas  sit,  quae  ad  tuam,  amicitiam  confugiat;"  but  wno  can  deduce  this 
sense  from  the  passage,  unless  he  Lave  pretium,  or  something  similar,  iu 
his  iiiiinl  ? 


198  SALLUST. 

had  the  superiority  in  the  field,  would  think  themselves  little 
obliged  by  what  he  promised ;  that  he  must  do  something 
which  would  seern  more  for  their  interest  than  his  own ;  and 
that  for  this  there  was  now  a  fair  opportunity,  since  he  had 
Jugurtha  in  his  power,  for,  if  he  delivered  him  to  the  Romans, 
they  would  feel  greatly  indebted  to  him,  and  their  friendship 
and  alliance,  as  well  as  fiat  part  of  Numidia  which  he  claimed,1"1 
would  reidily  be  granted  him."  Bocchus  at  first  refused  to 
listen  to  the  proposal,  saying  that  affinity,  the  ties  of  blood,2" 
and  a  solemn  league,  connected  him  with  Jugurtha  ;  and  that 
he  feared,  if  he  acted  insincerely,  he  might  alienate  the  affec- 
tions of  his  subjects,  by  whom  Jugurtha  was  beloved,  and  the 
Romans  disliked.  But  at  last,  after  being  frequently  impor- 
tuned, his  resolution  gave  way,30  and  he  engaged  to  do  every 
thing  in  accordance  with  Sylla's  wishes.  They  then  concerted 
measures  for  conducting  a  pretended  treaty  of  peace,  of  which 
Jugurtha,  weary  of  war,  was  extremely  desirous.  Having  set- 
tled their  plans,  they  separated. 

CXII.  On  the  next  day  Bocchus  sent  for  Aspar,  Jugurtha's 
envoy,  and  acquainted  him  that  he  had  ascertained  from  Sylla, 
through  Dabar,  that  the  war  might  be  concluded  on  certain 
conditions  ;  and  that  he  should  therefore  make  inquiry  as  to  the 
sentiments  of  his  king.  Aspar  proceeded  with  joy  to  Jugurtha's 
camp,  and  having  received  full  instructions  from  him,  returned 
in  haste  to  Bocchus  at  the  end  of  eight  days,  with  intelligence 
"  that  Jugurtha  was  eager  to  do  whatever  might  be  required, 
but  that  he  put  little  confidence  in  Marius,  as  treaties  of 
peace,  concluded  with  Roman  generals,  had  often  before 
proved  of  no  effect ;  that  if  Bocchus,  however,  wished  to 
consult  the  interests  of  both,31  and  to  have  an  established 
peace,  he  should  endeavor  to  bring  all  parties  together  to 
a  conference,  as  if  to  settle  the  conditions,  and  then  deliver 
Sylla  into  his  hands,  for  when  he  had  such  a  man  in  his 

88  CXI.  That  part  of  Numidia  which  he  claimed  ]  N/i.midi<E  f>ar!&m  quam 
\nuncpeteret..     See  the  second  note  on  c.  102.    Bocdius  continues,  in  his 
fipeecn  in  the  preceding  chapter,  to  signify  that  a  part  of  Nuinidia  belonged 
to  him. 

29  The  ties  of  blood]   Cognationem.     To  this  blood-relationship  between 
him  and  Jugurtha  no  allusion  is  elsewhere  made. 

30  His  resolution  gave  way]  Lenitur.     Cortius,  whom  Gerlach  and  Miiller 
follow,  reads  leniter,  but,  with  Kritzius  and  Gcrlach,  1  prefer  the  verb  to 
the  adverb ;  which,  however,  is  found  in  the  greater  number  of  the  manu- 
scripts. 

31  CXII.  Interests  of  both]  Ambobus.    Both  himself  and  Jugurtha. 


THE   JUGURTIIINE  WAR.  199 

power,  a  treaty  would  at  once  be  concluded  by  order  of  the 
senate  and  people  of  Rome  ;  as  a  man  of  high  rank,  who 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  not  from  want  of 
spirit,  but  from  zeal  for  the  public  interest,  would  not  be 
left  in  captivity. 

CXIII.  The  Moor,  after  long  meditation  on  these  sugges- 
tions, at  length,  expressed  his  assent  to  them,  but  whether 
in  pretense  or  sincerity  I  have  not  been  *  able  to  discover. 
But  the  inclinations  of  kings,  as  they  are  violent,  are  often 
fickle,  and  at  variance  with  themselves.  At  last,  after  a 
time  and  place  wera  fixed  for  coming  to  a  conference  about 
the  treaty,  Bocchus  addresssed  himself  at  one  time  to  Sylla 
and  at  another  to  the  envoy  of  Jugurtha,  treating  them 
with  equal  affability,  and  making  the  same  professions  to 
both.  Both  were  in  consequence  equally  delighted,  and 
animated  Avith  the  fairest  expectations.  But  on  the  night 
preceding  the  day  appointed  for  the  conference,  the  Moor, 
after  first  assembling  his  friends,  and  then,  on  a  change  of 
mind,  dismissing  them,  is  reported  to  have  had  many  anx- 
ious struggles  with  himself,  disturbed  alike  in  his  thoughts 
and  his  gestures,  which,  even  when  he  was  silent,  betrayed 
the  secret  agitation  of  his  mind.  At  last,  however,  he  or- 
dered that  Sylla  should  be  sent  for,  and,  according  to  his 
desire,  laid  an  ambush  for  Jugurtha. 

As  soon  as  it  was  day,  and  intelligence  was  brought 
that  Jugurtha  was  at  hand,  Bocchus,  as  if  to  meet  him 
and  do  him  honor,  went  forth,  attended  by  a  few  friends, 
and  our  quaestor,  as  far  as  a  little  hill,  which  was  full  in 
the  view  of  the  men  who  were  placed  in  ambush.  To  the 
same  spot  came  Jugurtha  with  most  of  his  adherents,  un- 
armed, according  to  agreement ;  when  immediately,  on  a 
signal  being  given,  he  was  assailed  on  all  sides  by  those 
who  were  lying  in  wait.  The  others  were  cut  to  pieces, 
and  Jugurtha  himself  was  delivered  bound  to  Sylla,  and  by 
him  conducted  to  Marius. 

CXFV.  At  this  period  war  was  carried  on  unsuccessfully 
by  our  generals  Quintus  Caepio  and  Marcus  Manlius,  against 
the  Gauls ;  with  the  terror  of  which  all  Italy  was  thrown 
into  consternation.  Both  the  Romans  of  that  day,  indeed, 
and  their  descendants,  down  to  our  own  times,  maintained  the 
opinion  that  all  other  nations  must  yield  to  their  valor,  but 


200  SALLUST. 

that  they  contended  with  the  Gauls,  not  for  glory,  but  merely 
in  self-defense.  But  after  the  war  in  Numidia  was  ended, 
and  it  was  announced  that  Jugurtha  was  coming  in  chains 
to  Rome,  Marius,  though  absent  from  the  city,  was  created 
consul,  and  Gaul  decreed  to  him  ?s  his  province.  On  the 
first  of  January  he  triumphed  as  consul,  with  great  glory. 
At  that  time32  the  hopes  and  dependence  of  the  state  were 
placed  on  him. 

32  CXIV.  At  that  time]  Ea,  tempestate.  "In  many  manuscripts  is  found 
ex  ea  temgestaU,  by  which  the  sense  is  wholly  perverted.  Sallust  signifies 
that  Marius  did  not  continue  always  deserving  qf  such  honor  ;  for,  as  is 
said  in  c.  63,  'lie  was  afterward  carried  headlong  by  ambition.'  "  Kriteius, 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  JUGURTHINE  WAR. 

EXTRACTED    PROM   DB   BROSSES. 
A.U.C. 

545. — Coss.    M.  CLAUDIUS,    MARCELLUS,    T.    QUINTIUS   CRIS- 

PINUS. — Masiuissa  succeeds  to  the  throne  of  his   father 

Gala. 
549. — M.  CORNELIUS  CETHEGUS,  P.  SEMPRONIUS  TUDITANUS. — 

Masinissa,  driven  from  his  dominions  by  Syphax,  king  of 

another  part  of  Numidia,  joins  the  Romans. 
550. — CN.  SERVILIUS  C^EPIO,  C.  SERVILIUS  NEPOS. — Syphax  is 

taken  prisoner.     Masinissa  is  restored   to  his  throne,  and 

unites  all  Numidia  under  his  sway. 
595. — Q.  FULVIUS  NOBILIOH,  T.  ANNIUS  Lusus. — About  this 

time  Jugurtha  is  born. 
605. — SP.  POSTHUMIUS  ALBINUS,  L.  CALPURNIUS  Piso. — Massi- 

nissa,  after  a  reign  of  sixty  years,  dies,  leaving  three  sons, 

Micipsa,  Mastanabal,  and  Gulussa ;    but  the  two  latter 

dying,  Micipsa  becomes  sole  king. 
613. — C.  L^ELIUS  SAPIENS,  Q.  SERVILIUS  C^EPIO. — The  siege  of 

Numantia  is   commenced,    during  which   Jugurtha    and 

Marius  serve  together  under  Scipio. 
620. — P.  MUTIUS  SC^EVOLA,  L.  CALPURNIUS  Piso. — Numantia 

is  taken. 
632. — Q.  FABIUS  ^EMILIANUS  MAXIMUS,  L.  OPIMIUS. — Micipsa 

adopts  Jugurtha,  son  of  Mastanabal. 
635. — M.    PORCIUS   CATO,    Q.    MABCIUS   REX. — Micipsa   dies, 

after  a  reign  of  thirty  years,  and  his   two  sons,  Adherbal 

and  Hiempsal,  with  Jugurtha,  succeed  conjointly  to  his 

dominions. 
636. — L.  C^ECILIUS  METELLUS,  Q.  Mucius  SCJEVOLA. — Hiempsal 

is  killed  by  Jugurtha  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign.     Civil 
9* 


202  SALLUST. 

i.U.C. 

war  ensues  between  Jugurtha  and  Adherbal,  who  is  de- 
feated, and  takes  refuge  in  the  Roman  province. 

637.  Coss.  C.  LICINIUS  GETA,  Q.  FABIUS  EBURNUS. — Adherbal 
arrives  at  Rome,  whither  also  Jugurtha  sends  embassadors. 
Both  parties  plead  before  the  Senate.  Opimius  is  deputed 
by  the  Senate  into  Africa. 

G38. — M.  ,/EMILIUS  SCAURUS,  M.  C^ECILIUS  METELLUS. — Opimus 
divides  Numidia  between  Adherbal  and  Jugurtha. 

639. — M. -Acmes  BALBUS,  C.  PORCIUS  CATO. — War  is  renewed 
between  Adherbal  and  Jugurtha. 

640. — C.  C^ECILIUS  METELLUS,  CN.  PAPIRIUS  CARBO. — Adher- 
bal is  defeated,  and  takes  refuge  in  Cirta,  which  is  besieged 
by  Jugurtha.  The  Senate  sends  three  commissioners  into 
Africa. 

641. — M.  Lrvius  DRUSUS,  L.  CALPURXIUS  Piso. — Cirta  having 
been  besieged  more  than  four  months,  Adherbal  addresses 
a  letter  to  the  Senate.  Scaurus  goes  as  deputy  into  Africa. 
Cirta  is  taken,  and  Adherbal  put  to  death  in  the  sixth 
year  of  his  reign.  Memmius  is  tribune  of  the  people. 
The  Romans  declare  war  against  Jugurtha. 

642. — P.  CORNELIUS  SCIPIO  NASICA,  L.  CALPURNIUS  Piso 
BESTIA. — Calpurnius  is  appointed  general  of  the  army  in 
Numidia,  and  Scaurus  second  in  command.  Jugurtha 
sends  embassadors  to  Rome,  with  bribes.  The  Roman 
army  enters  Numidia,  and  the  war  is  commenced.  Jugur- 
tha induces  Calpurnius  to  make  a  treaty  of  peace.  Cal- 
purnius sets  out  from  Africa,  about  the  month  of  July,  to 
hold  the  comitia  at  Rome.  Memmius  makes  a  speech  to 
the  people,  Sail.  Jug.  c.  31.  Cassius,  in  consequence  of 
it,  is  sent  into  Numidia.  Jugurtha  accompanies  Cassius 
to  Rome. 

643. — M.  MINUCIUS  RUFUS,  SP.  POSTHUMIUS  ALBINUS. — Bo- 
milcar,  at  the  instigation  of  Jugurtha,  assassinates  Massiva 
at  Rome.  Jugurtha  returns  to  Numidia.  The  consul 
Albinus  enters  Numidia  with  his  army,  but  performs  no 
operation  of  importance.  In  the  autumn  he  returns  to 
Rome,  leaving  the  army  under  the  command  of  his 
brother  Aulus.  Mamilius  Limetanus  becomes  tribune  of 
the  people. 

644. — Q.  C^ECILIUS  METELLUS  NUMIDICUS,  M.  JUNIUS  SILANUS. 
Aulus  leads  his  army  out  from  its  winter-quarters  in  the 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  JTJGURTIIINE  WAR.          203 

A.U.C. 

month  of  January,  and  lays  siege  to  Suthul.  lie  raises 
the  siege,  is  surprised  by  Jugurtha,  and  surrenders  on  dis- 
graceful terms,  making  at  the  same  time  a  treaty  with  Ju- 
gurtha, which  the  Senate  afterward  declare  invalid.  Al- 
binus  returns  to  Nurnidia,  and  resigns  the  command  of 
the  army  to  the  consul  Metellus.  Metellus  choses  for  his 
lieutenant-generals  Marius  and  Rutilius.  The  Mamilian 
law  is  passed,  by  which  Calpurnius,  Albinus,  and  Opimius, 
are  sent  into  exile.  Vacca  is  taken.  Battle  near  the 
Muthul.  Siege  of  Zama  by  Metellus.  Affair  of  cavalry 
near  Sicca.  Metellus  raises  the  siege  of  Zama,  and  goes 
into  winter-qtiarters  in  the  Roman  province. 

645. — SERV.  SULPITIUS  GALBA,  M.  ^EMILIUS  SCATJRUS  HOR- 
TENSIUS. — Jugurtha  makes  a  treaty  with  Metellus,  breaks 
it,  and  resumes  hostilities.  The  Numidians  surprise  the 
city  of  Vacca ;  Metellus  recovers  it.  Nabdalsa  and  Bo- 
milcar  conspire  against  Jugurtha.  Marius  quits  the  army, 
and  obtains  the  consulship  at  Rome.  Jugurtha  is  de- 
feated, and  throws  himself  into  Thala,  which  Metellus  soon 
after  besieges.  C.  Annius,  with  a  party  of  soldiers,  is  sent 
as  governor  to  Leptis.  Thala  is  taken  ;  Jugurtha  flees 
into  Getulia,  and  forms  a  league  with  Bocchus,  king  of 
Mauretania.  The  two  kings  take  up  their  position  near 
Cirta,  and  Metellus  encamps  at  no  great  distance  from 
them. 

646. — L.  CASSIUS  LONGINUS,  C.  MARIUS. — The  Senate  wish 
to  continue  Metellus  ia  command  of  the  army,  but  are 
opposed  by  the  people,  who  give  it  to  Marius.  Marius 
appoints  Manlius  and  Cinua  his  lieutenant-generals,  har- 
angues the  people,  makes  new  levies,  and,  setting  out 
from  Rome,  lands  at  Utica.  Metellus  triumphs.  Marius, 
assuming  the  command,  has  several  skirmishes  with  Ju- 
gurtha, and  then  makes  an  attempt  on  the  city  of  Capsa, 
which  he  takes. 

G47. — C.  ATTILIUS  SERRANUS,  Q.  SERVILIUS  C^PIO. — Metellus 
takes  a  strong  fort  on  the  borders  of  Mauretania.  Sylla 
arrives  in  the  army.  Bocchus  and  Jugurtha  again  unite 
their  forces,  and  attack  Marius  on  his  march  ;  Marius  re- 
tires, with  some  loss,  to  two  neighboring  hills,  but  attacks 
and  routs  the  barbarians  the  following  night.  Jugurtha 
and  Bocchus  are  again  defeated  near  Cirta,  and  the  Roman 


204  SALLUST. 

A.U.C. 

army  goes  into  winter  quarters  on  the  sea-coast.  Bocchus 
expresses  a  wish  for  peace  ;  Sylla  and  Manlius  have  an  in- 
terview with  him.  Marius  makes  an  unsuccessful  attempt 
on  a  fortress  of  Jugurtha's,  Sail.  Jug.,  c.  103,  104. 
648. — P.  RUTILIUS  RUFUS,  C.  MANLIUS  MAXIMUS. — Boochua 
sends  deputies  to  Marius,  who  assembles  a  council  to  give 
them  audience.  The  deputies  are  allowed  to  proceed  f.s 
embassadors  to  Rome,  and  the  Semite  grants  Bocchus 
peace.  Sylla  goes  to  confer  with  Bocchus ;  is  met  by  his 
son  Volux,  who  attends  him  to  his  father.  After  some 
secret  negotiation  between  Bocchus  and  Sylla,  Bocchus 
betrays  Jugurtha  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans. 


The  conclusion  of  the  Jugurthine  War  is  quite  as  abrupt  as 
that  of  the  Conspiracy  of  Catiline.  Jugurtha,  being  conveyed 
to  Rome,  was  led  in  triumph,  with  his  two  sons,  by  Marius. 
But  the  humiliation  which  he  experienced,  on  that  occasion, 
was  more  than  his  haughty  spirit  could  endure,  and  he  lost  his 
senses  before  the  termination  of  the  procession,  lie  was  then 
led  to  the  Tullian  dungeon,  the  same  into  which  the  accom- 
plices of  Catiline  were  afterward  thrown,  and  precipitated,  with 
great  ignominy  and  violence,  to  the  bottom  of  it.  In  his  de- 
scent, he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "  Heavens,  how  cold  is  this 
bath  of  yours !"  He  survived,  according  to  Plutarch  and 
others,  six  days.  See  Plutarch,  Vit.  Mar.  Eutrop.  iv.  11,  seq. 
Eutropius,  however,  says  that  he  was  strangled  in  prison.  At 
the  end  of  some  manuscript  copies  of  the  Jugurthiue  War  is 
added  the  distich, 

Si  cupis  ignotum  Jugurthse  noscere  letum, 
Tarpeiae  rupis  pulsus  ad  ima  ruit, 

But  this  was  the  production  of  somebody  more   willing  to  in- 
form others  than  himself. 

"Sylla  had  medals  distributed,  on  one  side  of  which  was  the 
consul  in  his  chariot,  drawn  by  four  horses  abreast,  holding  in 
his  right  hand  the  reins,  and  in  his  left  a  palm-branch,  with  the 
inscription  0.  MARIUS,  C.  F.  Cos.,  and  on  the  other  a  head  of 
Jupiter  Capitolinus,  with  the  words,  L.  CORNEL.  SYLLA,  PR.  Q. 
It  is  a  constant  tradition,  that  the  two  great  trophies  which  are 


CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  JUUURTHINE  WAR.          205 

still  to  be  eocn  in  the  court  of  (lie  Capitol  at  Rome,  r.nd  which 
were  transported  thither  from  the  Martian  aqueduct,  arc  those 
of  Marius.  But  if  they  are  his,  it  will  not  be  easy  to  decide 
whether  they  are  those  of  the  conquest  of  Numidia  or  cf  the 
victory  over  the  Cimbri.  Petrarch,  indeed,  says  that  they  are 
undoubtedly  those  of  the  victories  over  Jugui  tha,  but  lie  is  de- 
cidedly in  the  wrong  when  he  adds  that  they  are  representa- 
tions of  those  which  Bocchus  sent  to  be  dedicated  in  the  Cap- 
itol. Those  of  Bocchus,  made  of  gold,  and  representing  Ju- 
gurtha  delivered  by  the  king  of  Mauretania  to  Sylla,  were  of 
quite  a  different  nature  from  those  which  we  see  cut  in  stone 
in  the  court  of  the  Capitol.  *  *  *  For  myself,  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  one  of  the  two  refers  to  Jugurtha,  and  the 
other  to  the  Cimbri.  *  *  * 

"  The  Romans  did  not  immediately  unite  the  whole  of  Nu- 
inidia  to  their  empire.  A  portion  bordering  on  Mauretacin 
was  given  to  Bocchus,  as  a  recompense  for  his  services,  and 
called  New  Mauretania.  Another  portion  was  given  to  Iliemp- 
sal  II.,  whom  Appian  calls  Mandrestal,  son  of  Gulussa,  and 
grandson  of  Masinissa.  *  *  *  To  Hiempsal  II.  suc- 
ceeded his  son  Juba  I.,  who  took  part  in  the  civil  war  against 
Caesar.  Caesar,  having  defeated  him  in  the  battle  of  Thapsus, 
united  all  Numidia  to  the  Roman  empire.  Augustus  restored 
to  his  son,  Juba  II.,  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  age, 
the  kingdom  of  his  fathers.  This  Juba  had  two  wives,  Cleo- 
patra, daughter  of  Mark  Antony  and  Cleopatra,  and  Glaphyra, 
daughter  of  Archelaus,  king  of  Cappadocia,  and  widow  of  Al- 
exander, son  of  Herod  of  Judea.  He  was  succeeded  by  Ptol- 
emy, his  son  by  Cleopatra ;  after  whose  death  Numidia  had 
no  more  kings,  but  continued  a  Roman  province.  A  Numidian 
named  Dac-Barnas,  or  the  little  Pharnaces,  a  name  which  the 
Romans  metamorphosed  into  Tacfarinas,  usurped  the  govern- 
ment of  it  with  an  army  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  but  his  strug- 
gles to  retain  it  ended  in  his  defeat  and  death,  and  made  no 
alteration  in  the  condition  of  the  country." — De  JBrossei*. 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST, 


OF  these  fragments  the  greater  part  were  collected  from  the  grammarians, 
and  other  writers  who  have  cited  Sallust,  by  Puulus  Manutius  and  Ludovicus 
Carrio.  Subsequent  critics  have  augmented,  corrected,  and  illustrated  them. 
That  the  Speeches  and  Epistles,  which  form  the  larger  portion  of  them, 
have  reached  us  entire,  owing  to  their  preservation  in  an  old  manuscript,  in 
which  they  had  been  added  to  the  Conspiracy  of  Catiline  and  the  Jugur- 
thine  War,  and  from  which  Pornponius  Ltetus  extracted  them  for  the  press. 
Cortws. 

Of  all  who  have  endeavored  to  illustrate  these  Fragments,  the  most  suc- 
cessful has  been  De  Brasses,  who,  by  throwing  light  on  many -that  were  ob- 
scure, uniting  some  that  had  been  disjoined,  and  supplying;  from  other 
writers  what  appeared  to  have  been  lost,  has  given  a  restoration,  as  far  as 
was  possible,  of  Sallust's  History  in  French.  It  must  be  allowed  that  tho 
work  which  he  has  produced  is  worthy  of  being  read  by  every  student  of 
Roman  History. 

Sallust  gave  a  historical  record  of  tho  affiurs  at  Rome  from  A.U.C.  675, 
when  Sylla  laid  down  the  dictatorship,  to  A.U.C.  688,  when  Pompey,  by  the 
law  of  Manilius,  was  appointed  general  in  the  Mithridatic  war.  During 
this  period  occurred  the  civil  disturbances  excited  by  Lepidus  after  the 
death  of  Sylla,  tho  wars  of  Sertorius  and  Spartacus,  the  destruction  of  the 
pirates,  and  the  victories  of  lyucullus  over  Mithridatcs.  To  his  narrative 
he  prefixed  a  summary  of  events  from  the  end  of  the  Jugurthine  War; 
so  that  the  Jugurtha,  the  History,  and  the  Catiline  comprehended,  in  an 
uninterrupted  series,  the  occurrences  of  fifty-years,  from  63G  to  691.  Bur- 
nout'. 

All  the  Fragments  of  any  importance  are  here  translated.  The  names 
appended  to  them  are  those  of  the  grammarians,  or  other  writers,  from 
whom  they  have  been  extracted.  The  text  of  them  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
be  settled ;  Cortius  and  Burnouf  are  the  two  editors  that  have  bestowed 
most  pains  upon  it.  I  have  in  general  followed  Burnouf. 

I  HAVE  recorded  the  acts  of  the  Roman  people,  military  and 
civil,  in  the -consulship  of  Marcus  Lepidus  and  Quintus  Catulus,1 
and  the  subsequent  period.  Donatus.  Pomp.  Messalinus. 

1  Marcus  Lepidus  and  Quintus  Catulus]  They  were  consuls,  A.C.C.  676, 
just  after  the  abdication  of  Sylla.  Ausonius  mentions  them,  and  alludes, 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.         207 

Cato,  the  most  expressive  in  style*  of  all  the   Romans, 
much  iu  a  few  words.     Servius  Acron. 


Nor  has  the  circumstance  of  being  of  an  opposite  party 
in  the  civil  war  ever  drawn  me  away  from  the  truth.  Aru- 
sianus. 

The  first  dissensions3  among  us  arose  from  the  depravity 
of  the  human  mind,  which,  restless  and  untameable,  is  always 
engaged  in  a  struggle  for  liberty,  or  glory,  or  power.  Priscian. 


The  Roman  State  was  at  the  greatest  height  of  power  in  the 
consulship  of  Servius  Sulpicius  and  Marcus  Marcellus  ;4  when 
all  Gaul  on  this  side  of  the  Rhine,  and  between  our  sea  and 
the  ocean,  except  what  marshes  rendered  impassable,  was 
brought  under  its  dominion.  But  the  Romans  acted  on  the 
best  moral  principles,  and  with  the  greatest  harmony,  in  the  in- 
terval between  the  second  and  last  Carthaginian  war.  Victori- 
nus  Augustinus. 

But  discord5  and  avarice,  and  ambition,  and  other  evils  that 
usually  spring  from  prosperity,  were  most  increased  after  Car- 
at the  same  time,  to  the  contents  of  Sallnst's  History,  in  his  IVtli  Idyl, 
ver.  61 : 

Jam  facinns,  Catilina,  tnum,  Lepidique  tnmultum. 
Ab  Lepido  et  Catulp  jam  res  et  tempora  Komaa 
Orsus,  ois  senos  seriem  connecto  per  onnos. 
Jam  lego  eivili  mistum  Mavorte  auellum, 
Movit  quod  socio  Sertorius  exul  Ibero. 

»  Expressive  in  style]  Disertissimus.  "Sallust  had  a  particular  regard 
for  the  History  of  Cato,  which,  in  Sallust's  time,  had  almost  ceased  to  be 
read.  He  valued  himself  upon  imitating  his  style,  and  his  obsolete  expres- 
sions. He  found  in  his  antique  language  an  energy  to  which,  modern 
polish  and  accuracy  scarcely  ever  attain.  This  is  the  quality  which  wo 
Frenchmen  so  much  regard  in  our  ancient  authors,  as  Comines,  Amyot, 
nnd  the  incomparable  Montaigne,  writers  who  have  never  been  surpassed 
for  natural  strength  and  ease  of  style."  De  Brosses. 

*  The  first  dissensions,  etc.]  "This  was  the  commencement  of  a  preface, 
in  which  Sallust  treated  of  the  manners  and  condition  of  the  city  of  Rome, 
and  of  the  form  of  government,  from  the  foundation  of  the  city.  The  fo.- 
lowing  fragments  relate  to  the  same  subject."  Burnouf. 

4  Servius  Sulpicius  and  Marcus  Marcellus]  A.U.C.  703. 

5  But  discord,  etc.]  Compare  Jug.,  c.  41 ;  Cat.,  c.  10. 


208  SALLUST. 

thage  was  destroyed.  For  encroachments  of  the  stronger  on 
the  weaker,  and  consequent  separations  of  the  people  from 
the  senate,  with  other  domestic  dissensions,  had  existed  even 
from  the  very  origin  of  the  republic ;  nor,  on  the  expulsion 
of  the  kings,  were  equity  and  moderation  observed  any  longer 
than  till  the  dread  of  Tarquin,  and  of  a  fierce  war  from  Etruria, 
subsided ;  after  that  time  the  patricians  began  to  tyrannize 
over  the  plebeians  as  over  slaves  ;  to  scourge  and  put  them  to 
death  with  authority  like  that  of  kings  ;  to  dispossess  them  of 
their  lands,  and,  excluding  them  from  the  government,  to  keep 
it  entirely  in  their  own  hands.  The  people  being  greatly  op- 
pressed by  these  severities,  and  especially  by  the  grievance  of 
usury,  and  having  also  to  contribute  taxes  and  service  for  inces- 
sant wars,  at  last  took  up  arms,  and  posted  themselves  on  the 
Sacred  and  Aventine  Mounts,  on  which  occasions  they  secured 
for  themselves  the  right  of  electing  tribunes,  and  other  privi- 
leges. To  these  disputes  and  contentions  the  second  Punic  war 
brought  a  termination.  Auyustin. 


When,  after  the  terror  of  the  Carthaginians  was  removed, 
the  people  were  at  liberty  to  resume  their  dissensions,  innu- 
merable disturbances,  seditions,  and  subsequent  civil  wars, 
arose,  while  a  few  powerful  individuals,  whose  interest  most 
of  the  other  nobles  had  submitted  to  promote,  sought,  under 
the  specious  pretext  of  supporting  the  senate  or  the  ple- 
beians, to  secure  power  for  themselves  ;  and  men  were  esteemed, 
or  despised  by  them,  not  as  they  deserved  well  or  ill  of  the 
republic  (for  all  were  equally  corrupt),  but  whoever  grew  emi- 
nently wealthy,  and  better  able  to  encroach  on  others,  was 
styled,  if  he  supported  the  present  state  of  affairs,  an  excellent 
citizen.  From  this  period,  the  manners  of  our  forefathers  de- 
generated, not,  as  before,  gradually,  but  with  precipitation,  like 
that  of  a  torrent ;  and  the  youth  became  so  depraved  with 
luxury  and  avarice,  that  they  might  be  thought,  with  justice, 
to  have  been  born  powerless  either  to  preserve  their  own 
property,  or  to  suffer  others  to  preserve  theirs.  Gellius.  Au- 
gustin. 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.      209 


THE  SPEECH  OF  THE    CONSUL,  MARCUS  ^EMILIUS    LEPIDUS,     TO  THE 
PEOPLE  OF  ROME,  AGAINST  SYLLA. 

"YouB    clemency    and    probity,7    0    Romans,   for    which 

6  Marcus  JEmilius  Lepidns]  "  He  was  the  father  of  Lepiclns,  the  triumvir, 
of  the  patrician  gens  Emilia,  the  chief  families  of  which  were  the  Lepidi, 
Pauli,  and  Scuuri.  This  Lepidus  was  sedile  in  the  seventh  consulship  of 
Marius,  but  afterward  went  over  to  the  victorious  party  of  Sylla,  and  was 
distinguished  as  one  of  the  most  eager  in  getting  possesion  of  the  property 
of  the  proscribed.  He  became  consul-elect  in  the  year  675,  supported  by 
Pompey  and  opposed  by  Sylla,  who  was  still  dictator.  But  after  Sylla  re- 
signed the  dictatorship,  Lepidus  applied  himself  to  nullify  his  acts,  to 
revive  the  party  of  Marius,  and  to  stir  up  the  children  and  friends  of  the 
proscribed  |  aspiring,  himself,  to  power  similar  to  that  of  Sylla,  but  not  with 
Sylla's  ability;  for  he  was  light-minded,  a  leader  of  sedition,  cunning  rather 

than  prudent,  and  without  skill  in  war De  Brasses  thinks  that  this 

speech  was  spoken  by  Lepidus,  when  he  was  consul-elect,  and  before  he 
had  entered  on  his  office,  to  his  own  particular  adherents,  whom  he  had 
convened  in  some  private  place But  Douza  is  of  opinion  that  Le- 
pidus actually  addressed  himself  to  an  assembly  of  the  people  after  he  had 
assumed  the  consulship,  while  Sylla  was  living  in  a  private  station  after  his 
resignation  of  the  dictatorship,  but  while  he  yet  retained  much  of  his  dic- 
tatorial power  through  the  influence  of  his  party."  Burnovf.  From  the 
character  of  the  speech  itself,  the  reader  will  be  inclined,  I  think,  to  pro- 
nounce the  opinion  of  De  Brosses  fanciful,  and  to  agree  with  Douza.  The 
composition  of  the  speech  is  of  course  Sallust's  own ;  though  the  sentiments, 
or  many  of  them,  may  have  proceeded  from  Lepidus. 

"  It  is  very  difficult  to  determine  at  what  time  the  speech  was  made ;  for 
though  this  may  seem  to  be  sufficiently  shown  by  its  title  and  matter,  yet  it 
has  been  suspected  by  many  that  such  an  oration  could  not  have  been  pub- 
licly pronounced  while  Sylla  was  alive,  even  though  he  might  have  resigned 
the  dictatorship,  but  must  have  been  addressed  to  a  band  of  conspirators, 
in  some  private  place  of  assembly.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  Lepidus,  as 
consul,  made  the  speech  to  the  people  on  the  rostra;  for  he  would  not  have 
used  the  term  Quirites  except  m  a  public  address ;  nor  -would  he.  in  the 
character  of  consul-elect,  which  gave  him  no  power  or  authority,  have  of- 
fered himself  as  a  leader  to  the  people  for  the  recovery  of  their  liberty. 
But,  it  may  be  said,  there  are  many  expressions  in  the  speech  which  seem 
to  prove  that  Sylla,  at  the  time  of  its  delivery,  still  held  the  dictatorship. 
.  .  .  Appius  and  Orosius  intimate  that  Sylla  ceased  to  be  dictator  A.U.C.  674, 
when  he  himself  Avas  consul  with  Metellus  Pius,  or  the  year  after,  when 
Servilius  and  Claudius  were  consuls.  See' Appian,  De  Bell.  Civ.  i.  103 ; 
Oros.  v.  22.  And  from  Plutarch,  Syll.  c.  34,  we  may  understand  that  the 

abdication  took  place  A.r.c.  675 The  agreement  of  these  writers, 

though  they  are  of  no  great  authority  individually,  induces  me  to  believe 
that  Sylla  resigned  his  office  the  year  beibre  Lepidus  and  Catulus  were  con- 
suls. 'But  the  resignation  appears  to  me  no  matter  of  wonder ;  and,  indeed, 
the  writers  of  those  days  regarded  it  as  a  mere  display  of  arrogance :  for 
though  he  abdicated  the  name  of  dictator,  he  gave  up  nothing  of  his  dicta- 
torial power,  except  what  he  might  lose  by  devoting  himself  to  pleasure 

and  luxury Indeed,  the  power  of  Sylla  depended  not  so  much  on 

liis  office  of  dictator,  as  on  the  laws  which  he  had  made,  and  on  a  party  of 
the  nobility  who  supported  him."  Gerlnch. 

r  Your  clemency  and  probity,  etc.]  dementia  etprdbitas  vestra,  o.to.    Bur- 


210  SALLUST. 

you  are  eminent  and  renowned  among  other  nations,  excite 
in  me  the  greatest  apprehensions  against  the  tyranny  of 
Sylla,  lest,  either  by  disbelieving  concerning  others  what 
you  yourselves  think  nefarious,  you  should  allow  impostiou 
to  be  practiced  upon  you  (especially  since  all  his  hopes  dc- 
p .-ml  on  dishonesty  and  perfidy,  nor  does  he  otherwise  deem 
.himself  safe,  than  by  becoming  more  abandoned  and  infa- 
mous8 than  even  your  fears  can  forebode,  so  that,  when  you 
sire  thoroughly  made  subject  to  him,  your  sufferings  may 
suppress  in  you  all  care  of  recovering  your  liberty)  ;  or  lest, 
if  you  foresee  his  machinations,  you  should  occupy  your 
thoughts  rather  in  guarding  against  them  than  i:i  taking 
revenge  for  them. 

"His  satellites,  men  of  the  highest  name,  and  with  the 
noblest  examples  of  their  forefathers  for  their  imitation, 
sacrifice  their  own  freedom  (I  can  not  sufficiently  wonder  at 
their  conduct)  as  a  price  for  the  power  of  domineering  over 
you,  and  prefer  slavery  and  tyranny  without  laws,  to  liberty 
under  the  best  laws.  Illustrious  descendants  of  the  Bruti, 
^Emilii,  and  Lutatii,  born  to  overthrow  what  the  virtue  of 
their  ancestors  established !  For  what  Avas  it  that  was  de- 
fended against  Pyrrhus,  and  Hannibal,  and  Philip,9  and 
Antiochus,  but  liberty,  and  the  security  of  our  homes,10  and 
obedience  to  nothing  but  the  laws  ?  But  all  these  privileges 
this  cruel  Romulus11  withholds  from  us,  as  spoils  torn  from 
foreign  enemies ;  nor  is  he  satiated  with  the  destruction  of 
so  many  armies,  of  a  consul,"  and  of  other  eminent  men 
whom  the  fortune  of  war  has  sunk  in  death,  but  grows  still 

nouf  observes  that  this  exordium  is  an  imitation  of  that  of  the  Corinthians 
to  the  Lacedaemonians,  Thucyd.  i.  63 :  To  TTIOTOV,  vfiuf,  <Z>  AaKedai/jovtoi, 
etc.  "The  trustiness  and  policy  of  your  intercourse  among  yourselves, 
Lacedaemonians,  renders  you  the  more  distrustful  with  regard  to  others,  if 
we  say  any  tiling  against  them ;  and  from  this  you  have  a  character  for 
sober-mindedness,  out  betray  too  great  ignorance  with  regard  to  foreign 
affairs."  Dale's  Translation  :  Bohn's  Cl.  Library. 

B  Infamous]  Intest-abilior.    See  Jug.  c.  67. 
1     »  Philip]  King  of  Macedonia. 

10  Security  of  our  homes]  S-u.ce  cuique  sedes. 

11  This  cruel  Eomulus]  Scevus  isle  Romulus.    He  thus  designates  Sylla,  as 
being,  like  Romulus,  bent  upon  maintaining  his  power  by  violence.    But 
the  term  would  have  been  more  applicable  to  him  before  he  resigned  his 
dictatorship. 

18  Of  a  consul]  Cbnsulis.  "  He  seems  to  speak  of  the  younger  Marius." 
Crispinus.  Gerlach  observes  that  three  consuls,  Carbo,  Marius,  and  Nor- 
banus,  were  killed  in  the  civil  war,  and  thinks  that  the  reading  cvnsulumt 
which  is  in  some  copies,  ought  to  be  adopted. 


FRAGMKXTS  oK  TI1K   HISTORY  OF  SALLTJST.         -j  ]  1 

more  bloodthirsty  at  a  time  when  victory  converts  the  fury 
of  most  commanders  into  compassion,  lie  is  the  only  o:,c, 
in  the  memory  of  man,  that  lias  appointed  punishments 
for  children  yet  unborn,13  to  whom  suffering  is  insuied  before 
life.  He  revels  in  his  atrocities,  defended  as  yet  by  the 
enormity  of  his  crimes ;  while  you,  through  dread  of  heavier 
servitude,  are  deterred  from  making  en  effort  to  recover  your 
liberty. 

"  Such  despotism,  my  fellow-citizens,  you  must  exert  your- 
selves to  oppose,  that  your  spoils  may  not  remain  in  the 
hands  of  the  oppressor ;  you  must  not  delay,  or  think  of 
trusting  for  relief  to  prayers ;  unless,  perchance,  you  expect 
that,  growing  at  length  tired  or  ashamed  of  his  tyranny,  he 
will  venture  on  the  greater  hazard14  of  resigning  what  he  has 
unjustly  usurped.  But  he  has  proceeded  to  such  a  point, 
that  he  thinks  no  conduct  glorious  but  such  as  conduces  to 
his  safety,  and  deems  every  thing  laudable  that  assists  to  pre- 
serve his  power.  That  peace  and  tranquillity,  therefore, 
which,  with  the  enjoyment  of  liberty,  many  good  men  have 
sought  in  preference  to  toil  with  honors,  it  is  in  vain  for 
you  to  expect ;  you  must  either  be  slaves  or  rulers,  my 
fellow-citizens;  you  must  either  be  subjects  of  terror  or 
objects  of  it.  For  what  else  is  left  to  you  ?  What  human 
objects  of  desire  remain  ?  Or  does  any  thing  divine  con- 
tinue inviolate  ?  The  people  of  Rome,  lately  the  lords  of 
other  nations,  but  now  deprived  of  empire,  dignity,  and 
authority,  and  rendered  helpless  and  despicable,  find  not  even 
left  to  them  the  allowance  made  to  slaves.  The  vast  multi- 
tude of  the  allies  and  Latins,15  whom  you  presented  with  the 
civic  franchise  for  their  many  honorable  services,  are  ex- 
cluded from  it  by  the  will  of  a  single  individual ;  whose  small 
band  of  satellites  have  seized,  as  the  rewards  of  their  vil- 
lainies, the  patrimonial  lands  of  the  innocent  commonalty.  The 

»  For  children  yet  unborn]  In  post  futures.    The  children  of  the  pro- 
scribed.   See  note  on  Cat.,  c.  37. 

14  On  the  greater  hazard]  Periculosiits.     Thus  Pericles  says  to  the  Athen- 
ians respecting  their  sovereignty  over  their  dependents,  "You  now  hold  it 
as  a  tyranny,  •which  it  seems  wrong  to  have  assumed,  but  dangerous  to  give 
up."  'Thueyd.  ii.  63.     From  this  expression,  and  from  the  following  sen- 
tence, most  readers  would  surely  be  inclined  to  conclude  that  Sylla  was  still 
actually  dictator. 

15  Allies  and  Latins]  "To  lessen  the  number  of  citizens,  Sylla  took  away 
from  the  allies  and  Latins  the  right  of  citizenship,  -which  they  had  obtained 
by  the  Social  War."  Burnovf. 


212  SALLUST. 

laws,  the  administration  of  justice,  the  treasury,  the  prov- 
inces, tributary  princes,  are  all  under  the  direction  of  one 
man.  You  have-seen  even  human  sacrifices10  offered  by  him, 
and  tombs  dyed  with  the  blood  of  Roman  citizens.  And  is 
any  thing  left,  then,  for  those  who  would  act  as  men,  but  lo 
put  an  end  to  such  injustice,  or  to  die  honorably  in  attempt- 
ing it  ?  For  nature  has  appointed  one  end  to  all  men,  even 
though  encased  in  steel ;  nor  will  any  one,  unless  he  has  but 
the  heart  of  a  woman,  await  the  last  necessity  without  an 
effort. 

"  But  I,  according  to  Sylla's  representations,  am  a  promoter 
of  sedition,  because  I  complain  of  the  rewards  obtained  by  civil 
commotions ;  and  a  lover  of  war,  because  I  seek  to  recover  the 
privileges  of  peace.  To  make  such  a  charge,  is  to  say  that  you 
can  not  be  safe  or  secure  under  his  government,  unless  Vettius 
Picens,17  and  Cornelius  the  accountant,18  be  allowed  to  squan- 
der what  others  have  honorably  acquired,  and  unless  you 
approve  of  all  the  proscriptions  of  the  innocent  for  the  sake 
of  their  wealth,  of  the  torturing  of  illustrious  citizens,  of  the 
depopulation  of  the  city  by  banishment  and  slaughter,  and 
of  the  practice  of  selling  or  giving  away,  like  spoils  taken 
from  the  Cimbri,  the  possessions  of  your  unfortunate  coun- 
trymen, lie,  however,  objects  to  me  further,  that  I  have 
myself  a  share  in  the  prope;ty  of  those  proscribed;  but  that 
I  have  such  a  share  is  the  very  greatest  proof  of  his  tyranny, 
since  neither  I,  nor  any  one  of  us  all,  would  have  been  safe  from 
his  vengeance  if  we  had  strictly  adhered  to  honesty.  Yet  that 
very  property,  which  I  then  bought  under  the  influence  of  ter- 

10  Human  sacrifices]  JTumanaa  hostias.  "  He  refers  to  those  who  were- 
killed  at  the  tombs  of  the  followers  of  Sylla,  that  their  shades  might  not 
wander  unrevcnged,  as  Lucan  says  of  Crassus  ;  but  he  seems  to  refer  es- 
pecially to  the  sad  end  of  Marius  Gratidiauus,  who  was  sacrificed  at  tho 
sepulcher  of  the  Latatian  gens.  Val.  Max.  ix.  20  ;  Sen.  de  Ira  iii.  18  ;  Flo- 
rus  iii.  21."  Cortius.  Catiline  was  a  great  instrument  in  this  butchery  ;  seo 
note  on  Cat.,  c.  5. 

"  Vcttius  Picens]  "  An  obscure  man.  doubtless  ;  but  lie  seems  to  be  the 
same  from  whom  Cicero  bought  the  villa  of  Catulus ;  and  whonij  ad  Alt. 
vi.  1,  he  calls  manceps.  and  Pro  Coel.  30,  stvpratur  Ciodice.  Comp.  in  Vatin. 
10,  and  ad  Att.  iii.  ^4."  Gerlach. 

ls  Cornelius  the  accountant]  Scriba  Cornelius.  "  Cornelius  Chrysogonua, 
the  freedman  of  Sylla,  of  whom  Cicero  says  so  much  in  his  speech  for  Rose. 
Amer.  He  had  been  a  scriba,  that  is,  he  had  taken  account,  by  order  of 
Sylla,  of  the  prices  given  or  offered  at  the  sale  of  the  property  of  those  pro- 
scribed. De lirosses  thinks  that  it  is  he  who  is  meant  in  Cic.  de  Off.,  ii.  8  : 
Alter  qui  in  ed  dictaturd  scrttafuerat,  in  hoc  [Caesaris]/«w  quoestor  urlanus? 
Burnuuf. 


I 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.        213 

ror,  I  am  ready  to  restore,  on  repayment  of  the  purchase-money, 
to  the  rightful  owners ;'"  as  it  is  not  my  design  to  sanction  the 
spoliation  of  my  fellow-citizens.  Let  the  sufferings  be  sufficient 
which  have  resulted  from  the  indulgence  of  our  angry  passions, 
from  allowing  Roman  armies  to  encounter  each  other,  and  from 
turning  our  arms  from  our  enemies  against  ourselves.  Let 
there  be  an  end  of  injustice  and  outrage ;  of  which,  however, 
Sylla  himself  is  so  far  from  repenting,  that  he  glories  in  the 

>erpetration  of  it,  and  would  pursue  it  with  greater  avidity  if 

ic  had  greater  power. 

"  But  I  am  not  so  much  concerned  about  the  opinion  which 
you  may  have  of  his  character,  as  about  the  courage  which 
you  may  feel  to  oppose  him.  I  am  apprehensive  lest,  while 
each  waits  for  his  neighbor  to  begin  to  act,  you  should  all  be 
absolutely  reduced  to  subjection  (not  indeed  by  his  power, 
which  is  weakened  and  impaired,  but  by  your  own  indolence) 
before  you  can  proceed  against  him,  and  before  he  can  venture 
to  flatter  himself  with  the  hopes  of  such  success.20  For,  except 
his  corrupt  partisans,  who  joins  in  approving  his  proceeding  ? 
Or  who  does  not  wish  that  every  part  of  his  course  had  been 
of  a  different  character,  except  his  victory  ?31  Do  the  soldiers, 
by  whose  blood  wealth  has  been  gained  for  Tarrula  and  Scyr- 
t  us,  the  worst  of  slaves  ?  Or  do  those,  to  whom,  in  competition 
fjr  office,  Fufidius,  a  disgrace  to  his  sex,22  and  a  dishonor  to 

19  I  am  ready  to  restore,  on  payment  of  the  purchase-money,  to  the  right- 
ful owners]  Pretio  soluto,  jure  dominis  tainen  restituo.  The  sense  of  these 
words  may  be  altered,  in  some  degree,  by  the  mode  in  which  an  editor  may 
think  proper  to  point  them;  for  "he  may  join,"  as  Gerlach  observes,  "pre- 
tio  soluto,  or  soluto  jure,  ana,  as  some  think,  jure  dominis.'1''  I  have  followed 
Cortms,  Wasse,  and  Burnouf,  who  take  the  last  method,  considering  jure 
dominis  to  be  for  just-is  dominis  ;  though  I  do  not  think  it  at  all  certain  that 
Sallust  intended  such  a  junction.  But  in  whatever  way  the  words  be  taken, 
the  variation  in  the  sense  will  be  of  no  extraordinary  importance. 

*>  And  before  he  can  venture  to  flatter  himself Vith  the  hope  of  such 
success]  Et  (ante)  nudm  av.deat  tarn  mdere  felicem.  These  words  are  some- 
what obscure,  as  all  the  commentators  have  remarked.  Gerlach,  who  calls 
the  accusative  dvriszinmm,  interprets  them  (ante)  qudm  audeat  sperare  tan- 
t'lmfelicltatem.  The  construction  must  be,  if  the  text  bo  correct,  antequam 
andeat  videri  sibi  (scjore,  or  seposze  fsse)  tarn  felicem ;  "  before  he  can  ven- 
ture to  represent  himself  to  himself  as  beincr  (likely  to  be)  so  fortunate." 
There  is  an  allusion  to  Sylla's  assumption  of  the  title  Felix.  See  Jug.  c.  9;". 

21  Except  his  victory]  Prater  victoriam.  "  He  means  that  the  victory  of 
ftylla  was  good,  and  might  have  given  full  freedom  to  the  commonwealth  ; 
but  that  the  abuse  of  it,  and  the  establishment  of  a  tyranny  by  it,  was  tho 
grievance,  as  appears  from  what  follows."  Conke. 

--  A  disgrace  to  his  sex]  Ancitta  iurpis.    "  He  calls  him  anellla,  to  throw 


214  SALLUST. 

every  magistracy,  was  preferred  ?  To  the  victorious  army,  ac- 
cordingly, I  look  for  the  strongest  support,  by  whom,  through 
so  many  sufferings  and  hardships,  nothing  has  been  gained  but 
an  oppressor;  unless  we  suppose,  indeed,  that  they  look  the 
field  purposely  to  destroy  the  tribunicial  power  which  was 
established  by  their  ancestors,  or  to  divest  themselves  of  their 
own  privileges  and  right  of  judicature.23  Glorious,  in  truth, 
was  their  recompense,  when  banished  to  woods  and  marshes, 
they  found  reproach  and  hatred  their  own  portion,  and  saw  the 
spoils  of  conquest  in  the  hands  of  an  oligarchy! 

"  How  is  it,  then,  that  he  presents  himself  before  us  with 
such  a  train  of  followers,  and  with  such  audacity  ?  Because 
success  throws  a  wonderful  vail  over  vice ;  (though,  should 
fortune  fail  him,  he  will  be  as  much  despised  as  he  is  now 
dreaded ;)  unless,  perchance,  he  seeks  to  delude  you  with  a 
prospect  of  concord  and  peace,  names  which  he  himself  has 
given  to  his  \vickednoss  and  treachery,  saying  that  Koine  can 
never  have  an  end  of  war,  unless  the  commonality  continue  ex- 
pelled from  their  lands  (a  calamitous  prey  of  civil  war),  and 
the  power  and  judicial  authority  in  all  matters,  which  once  be- 
longed to  the  Roman  people,  be  vested  in  himself  alone.  If 
such  an  arrangement  be  thought  peace  and  concord,  give  your 
approval,  I  pray  you,  to  the  most  extravagant  disturbances 
and  alterations  of  the  state ;  grant  your  sanction  to  the  laws 
which  are  imposed  upon  you ;  accept  tranquillity  and  servitude  ; 
and  afford  an  example  to  posterity  for  enslaving  the  people  of 
Rome  by  the  hire  of  their  own  blood.24 

"  For  myself,  although,  by  my  elevation  to  this  high  office," 
enough  has  been  attained  for  the  name  of  my  ancestors,  for 
my  own  dignity,  and  even  for  my  personal  protection,  it  was 
never  my  design  to  pursue  merely  my  own  interests.  Liberty 
gained  with  peril  appears  to  me  more  desirable  than  indolent 

the  utmost  contempt  on  him.  So  Cic.  ad  Att.  i.  14  :  Totns  ilUgrcr,  Catilince, 
ducefilwla,  Uurionis,  fnrjilio  •  on  which  passage  sec  Popma.''  Cortina. 

23  Privilerrea  and  right  of  judicature]  Jura  et  judicial.  "Sylla  had  trans- 
ferred ihcjudlcia,  or  right  of  being  judices,  fromikecguitesto  the  senators." 
Bttrnoiif. 

21  By  the  hire  of  their  own  blood  1  Si/imet  itantji/ini*  rru-rcede.  Some  copies 
have  suimet  sanyuinis  caide,  which  Wasse,  I  believe,  is  the  only  editor  thut 
lias  been  found 'to  defend;  he  takes  sanguinis  in  the  sense  of  •' relatives." 
The  Koman  people  had  shed  their  own  blood  to  establish  a  tyranny  over 
themselves.  Gerlach  compares  Tucit.  Agric.  30:  Britannia  seroitutetns'uam 
quotidie  emit,  quotidie pascit. 

••'  This  high  office]  Hoc  summmn  imptrium.    The  consulship. 


FRAGMENTS  OP  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.        215 

servitude.  And  if  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  approve  of  this  sen- 
timent,  give  me  your  support,  and,  relying  on  ihe  gracious 
assistance  of  the  gods,  follow  your  consul,  Marcus  ^Emilius,  as 
your  leader  and  guide  to  the  recovery  of  your  freedom." 


THE    SPEECH    OF    LUCIUS    PHILIPPUS       AGAINST   MARCUS 
^EMILIUS    LEPIDUS. 

"  I  could  wish,  beyond  all  things,  Conscript  Fathers,  that 
the  state  should  be  at  peace,  or  that,  if  it  be  in  danger,  it 
should  be  defended  by  its  ablest  citizens;  and  that  mischievous 
plots  should  prove  the  ruin  of  their  contrivers.  But,  on  the 
contrary,  every  thing  is  disordered  by  factious  disturbances; 
disturbances  excited  by  those  whom  it  would  better  become  to 
suppress  them.  What  the  worst  and  weakest,  moreover,  have 
resolved,  is  to  be  executed  by  the  good  and  wise.  For  war, 
though  adverse  to  your  inclinations,  is  to  be  undertaken  by  us 
because  it  pleases  Lepidus ;  unless  any  of  us,  perchance,  choose 
to  secure  him  peace27  on  our  part,  and  to  suffer  hostilities  on 
his. 

"Just  heaven!  ye,  who  yet  rule  this  city,26  but  take  no 

*•  Philippus]  "Lucius  Marcius  Philippus,  who  had  been  consul  A.U.C. 
063,  and  in  whose  consulate  Crassus  the  Orator  died.  See  Cic.  Orat.  ui.  1. 
This  speech  was  not  delivered  immediately  after  that  of  Lepidus.  But 
Catulus,  the  colleague  of  Lepidus,  being  adverse  to  his  views,  and  raising 
vehement  opposition  to  them,  the  senate  ordered  them  to  set  out  to  their 
respective  provinces  (that  of  Catulus  being  Italy,  and  that  of  Lepidus,  Gallia 
Cisalpina),  having  previously  bound  them  by  an  oath  not  to  make  war  on 
each  other.  Lepidus,  notwithstanding,  having  collected  the  remains  of  the 
Marian  party  in  Etruria,  and  having  inspired  numbers  of  people  in  those 
parts  with  the  hope  of  recovering  the  franchise,  of  which  they  had  been  de- 
prived by  Sylla,  advanced  upon  the  city  with  a  large  army,  and  encamped 
near  the  Milvian  bridge.  From  this  position  he  was  driven  by  Catulus  and 
Cneius  Pompey,  but  found  means  to  recruit  his  forces  in  Etruria,  :ml  be- 
gan to  threaten  Rome  with  a  new  war,  and  to  demand  tor  himself  a  second 
consulship.  It  was  at  this  crisis  that  Philippus  endeavored  to  rouse  the 
senate,  which  was  deficient  in  spirit,  and  disposed  to  mild  measures,  with 
the  following  speech.  A  decree  of  the  senate  was  made  in  accordance  with 
his  suggestions,  and  Catulus.  with  the  authority  of  pro-consul,  nitacked 
Lepidus  in  Etruria,  routed  him  several  times,  and  compelled  him  at  last  to 
take  refuge  in  Sardinia,  where  he  fell  a  victim  to  disease."  Burnovf. 

27  To  secure  him  peace,  etc.]  Pacem  prcestare  et  Mliim  pali.     "  Nisi  qnis 
velit  pacem  Lepido  praestare,  et  nb  illo  belhim  pati."  Bur/innf.     "Pacem 
lj!»:rt et  alteri  exliifxre;  sed  quos  Lepid.is  pro  liostibus  babebit."   Cortins. 
Just  heaven!  ye,  who  yet  rule  this  city,  etc.]  Prodiiltonl!  q>d  hanc 
m,  omissd  curd,  adhuc  reyiti-s.    "  The  qui  refers  not  to  the  gods,  but  to 


216  SALLUST. 

thought  for  its  interests,  see  that  Lepidus,  the  worst  of  all  in- 
famous characters,  of  whom  it  can  not  be  decided  whether  his 
wickedness  or  baseness  is  the  greater,  heads  an  army  for  op- 
pressing our  liberties,  and  from  being  contemptible  has  mado 
himself  formidable  ;  while  you,  whispering  and  shrinking  back, 
influenced  by  words29  and  the  predictions  of  augurs,  desire 
peace  rather  than  maintain  it,  being  insensible  that,  by  the 
weakness  of  your  resolutions,  you  lessen  at  once  your  own  dig- 
nity and  his  fears  And  this  is  a  natural  consequence,  when, 
by  plunder,3'1  he  has  gained  from  you  a  consulship,  and,  by  his 
factious  proceedings,  a  province  with  an  army.  What  would 
he  have  received  for  good  deeds,  when  you  have  bestowed  such 
rewards  on  his  villainies  ? 

"  But,  you  will  say,  those  who  have  to  the  last  voted  for 
sending  deputies,  for  peace,  concord,  and  other  things  of  the 
kind,  have  obtained  favor  from  him.  On  the  contrary,  they  were 
held  in  contempt,  thought  unworthy  of  any  share  in  the  ad- 
ministration, and  fit  only  to  be  the  prey  of  others,  as  persons 
who  sue  for  peace  with  the  same  weakness  with  which  they 
lost  it  when  it  was  in  their  possession.  For  myself,  when,  at 
the  very  first,  T  saw  Etruria  conspiring  with  him,  the  proscribed 
called  to  his  support,  and  the  republic  rent  into  factions  by  his 
bribes,  I  thought  that  no  time  was  to  be  lost,  and  accordingly 
followed  with  a  few  others,  the  measures  of  Catulus.  But  that 
party,  who  extolled  the  services  of  the  vEmilian  family  toward 
the  state,  and  said  that  the  greatness  of  the  Romans  had  been 
increased  by  lenity,  could  not  then  perceive  that  Lepidus  had 

the  senators  whom  Philippus  was  addressing."  Wa/sse.  This  seems  to  be 
the  only  right  mode  ot  interpretation,  though  "Wassc  afterward  changed 
hia  mind,  aiid  derided  Crispmus  for  having  been  of  the  same  opinion 
as  himself.  Certainly,  as  Gerlach  observes,  the  expression  otnissa  curd. 
can  not  with  any  propriety  be  referred  to  the  gods ;  for  the  goverment  of 


the  gods  consists  in  care,  and  if  they  ceased  to  have  any  care,  they  would 
cease  to  have  any  government ;  though  to  men  the  words  regiiis  and  omlssa, 
eura  may  be  equally  applicable,  in  the  sense  which  I  have  given  to  them  in, 


the  text.  Bureau  Belamallo  and  Be  Brasses  also  refer  omissa,  euro,  to  the 
senators.  And  this  mode  of  taking  the  passage  is  supported  by  what  fol- 
lows, vos  mussantes  et  relracta/ites,  etc.,  which  is  but  a  continuation  of  the 
address  to  the  senate. 

la  Bywords]  Verliis.  "Verlis  est  proptaer  verba,  h.  e.  augurum  responsa 
cl  vatum  carmma,  h.  e.  libros  Sibyllinos."  Gortias. 

31  By  plunder,  etc.]  Ex  rapmis  conxulatum.  ''Lepidus,  when  he  W:;K 
praetor  in  Sicily,  had  so  plundered  that  province,  that  <  'icer<>,  in  making  one 
of  his  strong  charges  against  Verres,  says  that  l:c  did  what  he  could  not 
have  justified  even  by  the  example  of  Lepidus.'1  Bantouf. 

a'  Had  been  increased]  Auxixte.  For  au.risse  se,  or  auctam  esse.  Cato, 
iL1  Aul.  Gell.  xviii.  12,  says  eo  res  eorum  auxU. 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.        217 

done  any  thing  extraordinary ;  and  oven  -when  he  had  taken 
up  arms  without  your  authority,  and  for  the  destruction  of  your 
liberty,  each  of  them,  by  seeking  wealth  and  patronage  for  him- 
self, weakened  the  public  counsels.  At  that  time,  however, 
Lepidus  was  merely  a  marauder,  at  the  head  of  a  few  camp- 
followers  and  cut-throats,  each  of  whom  would  have  periled 
his  life  for  a  day's  wages ;  now  he  is  a  pro-consul  with  full 
authority — an  authority  not  bought,  but  conferred  on  him  by 
yourselves,  and  with  officers  still  obliged  by  law  to  obey  him ; 
while  there  have  flocked  to  his  standard  the  most  profligate 
characters  of  all  ranks;  men  who  are  turbulent  from  distress 
and  cupidity,  and  harassed  with  the  consciousness  of  crimes ; 
who  are  at  ease  in  broils,  and  restless  in  peace;  who  excite 
tumult  after  tumult,  and  war  after  war ;  and  who  were  first  the 
followers  of  Satuniinus,  then  of  Sulpicius,  next  of  Marius  and 
Damasippus,"  and  have  now  become  the  instruments  of  Lepidus. 
Etruria,  moreover,  is  in  insurrection  ;  all  the  remains  of  the  last 
war  are  resuscitated ;  the  Spains  are  solicited  to  take  arms ; 
Mithridates,  on  the  very  frontier  of  our  tributaries  that  yet  sup- 
port us,  is  watching  an  opportunity  to  commence  hostilities; 
and  nothing,  but  a  proper  leader,33  is  wanting  to  subvert  our 
government.  I  therefore  entreat  and  conjure  you,  Conscript 
Fathers,  to  give  your  serious  attention  to  the  matter,  and  not 
to  suffer  the  unbridled  influence  of  corruption,  like  the  ravages 
of  a  disease,  to  spread  by  contact  to  the  uninfected.  For  when 
honors  are  heaped  on  the  unprincipled,  scarcely  will  any  one 
maintain  an  integrity  which  is  unrewarded.  Or  are  you  wait- 
ing, till,  having  again34  brought  his  army  upon  you,  he  attacks 
the  city  with  fire  and  sword? — a  step  which  is  at  much  less 
distance  from  his  present  assumptions  than  was  that  from  peace 
and  concord  to  civil  war ;  a  war  which  he  commenced  in  de- 
fiance of  every  obligation,  human  and  divine ;  not  to  redress 
his  own  grievances,  or  those  of  the  persons  whose  cause  he  pre- 
tends to  vindicate,  but  to  subvert  our  laws  and  our  liberty. 
For  he  is  disquieted  and  harassed  with  raging  desires,  and 
terror  for  his  crimes ;  he  is  undecided  and  restless,  pursuing 
sometimes  one  scheme  and  sometimes  another ;  dreading  peace, 

32  Damasippus]  See  Cat.  c.  Tl. 

«  A  proper  leader]  Idoneum  ducem.     "  A  sneer  at  the  incompetency  of 
Lepidus."  Burnouf. 

•l  Again]  Jtursus.    He  had  previously  advanced  to  the  Milvian  bridge. 
Sec  tho  first  note  011  this  speech. 

10 


218  SALLUST. 

and  hating  war;  feeling  that  he  must  abstain  from  luxury  and 
licentiousness,  yet  taking  advantage  meantime  of  your  inactivity, 
inactivity  which  I  do  not  know  whether  I  should  not  rather 
call  fear,  or  pusillanimity,  or  infatuation;  for  while  you  see 
peril  threatening  you  like  a  thunderbolt,  you  merely  wish,  each 
for  himself,  that  it  may  not  fall  upon  you,  but  without  making 
the  least  effort  to  prevent  it. 

"  Consider,  I  pray  you,  how  the  temper  of  the  times  is 
changed  from  what  it  was.  Formerly,  designs  against  the  com- 
monwealth were  conducted  secretly,  and  measures  for  its  defense 
with  openness,  and  thus  the  lovers  of  their  country  had  an  easy 
advantage  over  incendiaries  ;  now,  peace  and  concord  are  pub- 
licly impugned,  and  supported  only  by  plans  concerted  in 
secret.  Those  who  espouse  a  bad  cause,  show  themselves  in 
arms  ;  you,  Conscript  Fathers,  shrink  back  in  terror.  But  for 
what  do  you  wait,  unless  you  are  ashamed  or  unwilling  to  act 
as  becomes  you?  Do  the  declarations35  of  Lepidus  influence 
you  ? — of  Lepidus,  who  says  that  each  should  have  his  own, 
and  yet  retains  the  property  of  others ;  who  exclaims  that  laws 
established  by  arms36  should  be  abrogated,  and  yet  seeks  to 
bring  us  under  his  yoke  by  a  civil  war ;  who  asserts  that  the 
civic  franchise  should  be  restored  to  those  from  whom  he 
denies  that  it  has  been  taken ;  and  who  insists,  for  the  sake  of 
concord,  on  the  re-establishment  of  the  tribunitial  power,  by 
which  all  our  discords  have  been  inflamed.  O  most  abandoned 
and  shameless  of  men !  Are  the  distresses  and  troubles  of  the 
citizens  become  objects  of  thy  Care,  who  hast  nothing  in  thy 
possession  but  what  has  been  obtained  by  violence  and  in- 
justice ?  Thou  demandest  a  second  consulship,  as  if  thou  hadst 
resigned  the  first ;  thou  seekest  a  pretended  peace,  by  means 
of  a  war  that  breaks  the  real  peace"  which  we  enjoyed ;  thou 
art  a  traitor  to  us,  a  deceiver  of  thy  party,  and  the  enemy  of 
all  honest  men  !  Hast  thou  no  shame,  before  either  gods  or 
men,  both  of  whom  thou  hast  offended  by  thy  perfidies  and 
perjuries  ?  But,  since  thou  art  what  thou  art,  I  exhort  thee  to 
persist  in  thy  course,  and  to  keep  thy  arms  in  thy  hands  ;  and 

05  Declarations]  Mandata.  "  Lepidus  might  previously  have  sent  depu- 
ties to  the  senate  and  the  people  with  some  statements  or  declarations." 
Cortlijg.  "  Probably  to  treat  about  the  abrogation  of  Sylla's  laws."  Gerlach. 

3(1  Laws  established  by  arms]  Belli  jura.  "Laws  which  Syl la  had  im- 
posed on  the  Romans,  after  his  victory.'  Burnovf. 

37  That  breaks  the  real  peace,  etc.]  Quo  parta  (sc.  pax)  disturbatur. 


1MENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.         219 

do  not  make  thyself  uneasy,  and  keep  us  in  suspense,  by  delaying 
thy  traitorous  purposes.  Neither  our  provinces,  nor  our  laws, 
nor  our  household  gods,  endure  thee  as  a  citizen.  Proceed, 
then,  as  thou  hast  begun,  that  thou  mayst  as  soon  as  possible 
meet  thy  deserts ! 

"  But  you,  0  Conscript  Fathers,  how  long  will  you  keep  the 
republic  ia  insecurity  by  your  delays,  and  meet  arms  only  with 
words  ?39  Forces  are  levied  against  you  ;  money  is  raised,  pub- 
licly and  privately,  by  extortion ;  troops  are  led  out,  and  placed 
in  garrisons  ;3*  the  laws  are  under  arbitrary  and  capricious  man- 
agement ;  and  yet  you,  meanwhile,  think  only  of  sending  depu- 
ties and  preparing  resolutions.  But,  be  assured,  the  more 
earnestly  you  apply  for  peace,  the  more  vigorously  will  war  be 
urged  against  you,  as  your  enemy  will  find  himself  better 
supported  by  your  fears  than  by  the  justice  and  goodness  of 
his  cause.  For  whoever  professes  a  hatred  of  civil  broils,  and 
of  the  effusion  of  Roman  blood,  and  keeps  you,  for  that  reason, 
defenseless,  while  Lepidus  is  in  arms,  recommends  you  to  sub- 
mit to  the  treatment  which  the  vanquished  must  endure,  when 
you  yourselves  must  inflict  it  on  others.  Such  counselors  ad- 
vise peace  on  your  part  toward  him,  and  war  on  his  toward  you. 
If  exhortations  of  this  nature  please  you,  if  such  insensibility 
has  taken  possession  of  your  breasts,  that,  forgetful  of  the  crimes 
of  China,  by  whose  return  into  the  city  all  the  dignity  of  your 
order  was  trampled  in  the  dust,  you  will  nevertheless  put  your- 
selves, your  wives  and  children,  into  the  power  of  Lepidus,  what 
need  is  there  of  resolutions,  or  what  is  the  use  of  the  aid  of 
Catulus  ?  He,  and  all  other  honest  men,  concern  themselves 
for  the  state  in  vain.  But  act  as  you  pleasa  ;  the  bands  of 
Cethegus,49  and  of  other  traitors,  stand  ready  for  you,  eager  to 
renew  their  ravages  and  burnings,  and  to  arm  their  hands  afresh 
against  your  household  gods.  If  liberty  and  honor,41  however, 

38  Meet  arms  only  with  words]  Verbis  arma  tentabaHis.  "  Adversus  Le- 
pidi  arma  verbus  tantum  pugnabitis."  Burnouf.  "  Ne  vous  Iassez-vou3 
point  de  n'opposer  aux  armes  que  de  vaines  paroles?"  De Brasses. 

3'J  Troops  are  led  out,  and  placed  in  garrisons]  Prcesidia  deduda  atqve 
ifa.  "  Cortiu*  leaves  it  doubtful  whether  the  sense  is  deducta  sunt 
altapratsldui  e.c  urbibus,  alia  imposita  ;  or,  deducta  in  urbes  et  imposita  pro- 
si  liu.  De  Brosses  and  Bureau  Delamalle  preferred  the  former  interpreta- 
tion." Bttrnouf.  I  have  adopted  the  latter. 

40  Cethegus j  "  Caius  Cethesrns,  who  was  afterward  one  of  Catiline's  ac- 
complices.   See  Cat.,  c.  17."  Burnouf. 

41  Liberty  and  honor]  Libertas  et  vera.     "  Vera,  i.  c.  jnstum,  rectum." 
Gerlach.     Cortius  and  Buruouf  also  read  veraj  Huvereauip  and  others  havo 


220  SALLUST. 

have  more  attractions  for  you,  decide  on  what  is  worthy  of  the 
name  of  Rome,  and  stimulate  the  courage  of  your  valiant  sup- 
porters. A  new  army  is  at  your  devotion,  with  colonies  of  vet- 
erans,43 all  the  nobility,  and  the  most  able  commanders.  For- 
tune follows  the  braver  side ;  and  the  force  which  the  enemy 
has  collected  through  our  remissness,  will  dwindle  away  when 
we  begin  to  exert  ourselves. 

"  My  opinion  therefore  is,  that  since  Lepidus  is  advancing 
with  an  army,  raised  on  his  own  responsibility,  in  concert  with 
the  worst  enemies  of  the  commonwealth,  and  in  defiance  of  the 
authority  of  the  senate,  to  the  gates  of  the  city,  Appius  Claudius 
the  interrex,43  Quintus  Catulus  the  pro-consul,  and  others  who 
are  in  authority,  be  directed  to  guard  the  city,  and  TO  MAKE  IT 

THEIR  CARE  THAT  THE  REPUBLIC  RECEIVE  NO  INJURY."  44 


FROM  THE  SECOND  BOOK. 

A  Ligurian  woman,  named  Corsa,45  observing  that  a  bull  in  a 
herd  which  she  was  tending  on  the  coast,  was  accustomed  to 
swim  over  the  water,  and  to  return  from  time  to  time  with  an 
increase  of  flesh,  and  desiring  to  learn  on  what  unknown  pas- 
ture he  fed,  followed  the  animal,  the  next  time  that  he  left  the 
other  cattle,  in  a  boat  to  the  island.  On  her  return,  the  Ligu- 
rians,  being  informed  of  the  extraordinary  fertility  of  the  isle, 
went  over  to  it  in  boats,  and  called  it  by  the  name  of  the  woman 
who  discovered  and  guided  them  to  it.  Isidore,  xiv.  6. 


Metellus,4"  after  a  year's  absence,  having  returned  into  Further 

bella,  which  makes  very  pood  sense,  and  to  which  the  strongest  objection 
that  can  be  made  is  that  Sallust  or  Lepidus,  was  more  likely  to  use  the  sin- 
gular. 

43  Colonies  of  veterans]  Colonice  veterum  militvm.     "Old  soldiers  from 
the  colonies  of  Sylla."  Burnoiif, 

43  Appius  Claudius  the  interrex]  "  This  speech  was  delivered  A.U.C.  677, 
about  the  end  of  January,  when,  as  the  consuls  for  the  year  were  not  yet 
created,  Appius  Claudius  was  interrex."  Burnwif. 

44  THAT  THE  REPUBLIC  RECEIVE  NO  INJURY]  See  Cat.,  c.  29. 

45  Corsa]  This  story  is  noticed  by  Stcphanus :   Corsis,  says  he,  is  an  inland 
in  the  Tyrrhenian  sea,  named  from  Corsa,  a  female  slave  who  tended  cattle  ;  it 
is  also  called  Corsica.'1''  Colerus.    The  usual  Greek  name  for  it  was  Kvpvoc, 
Cyrnus. 

48  Metcllns"]  "  Metellus  Pius,  who  had  carried  on  the  war  against  Serto- 
rius.    lie  was  the  son  of  Metellus  Numidieus."  Burnouf. 


FRAGMENTS  OP  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLTJST.         221 

Spain,  was  followed,  with  great  honor,  by  a  concourse47  of  people 
of  both  sexes,  flocking  together  from  all  parts,  and  collecting 
along  the  roads  and  on  the  house-tops.  His  quaestor,  Caius 
Urbinus,  and  others  who  knew  his  disposition,  invited  him  to  a 
banquet,  and  entertained  him  with  a  splendor  exceeding  that 
of  the  Romans  or  any  other  people,  adorning  the  houses  with 
tapestries,  ensigns,  and  scenes  suited  to  the  gorgeousness  of  a 
theater  ;  the  ground  being  sprinkled  with  saffron,48  and  other 
ceremonies  being  used  as  in  a  much-frequented  temple.  As  he 
was  sitting,  too,  an  image  of  victory,  let  down  by  a  rope,  with 
a  noise  to  imitate  thunder,  placed  a  crown  upon  his  head ;  and, 
as  he  moved  about,  frankincense  was  offered  to  him  as  to  a  de- 
ity. His  dress,  as  he  reclined  at  the  table,  was  mostly  a  figured 
toga  ;  the  most  exquisite  dainties  were  set  before  him  ;  for  several 
varieties  of  birds  and  other  animals,  previously  unknown,  had 
not  only  been  collected  throughout  the  province,  but  brought 
over  the  sea  from  Mauretania,  for  the  occasion.  But  by  such 
indulgences  he  lost  something  of  his  glory,  especially  in  the 
opinion  of  the  older  and  more  austere,  who  regarded  them  as 
savoring  of  pride  and  presumption,  and  unsuitable  to  the  dig- 
nity of  the  Roman  empire.  Macrob.  Sat.  ii.  9.  Nonius.  So- 
sipater,  1.  i. 


FROM  THE  THIRD  BOOK. 
LETTER    OF   POMPEY49    TO    THE    SENATE. 

Had  I  as  often  engaged  in  toils  and  dangers,  Conscript  Fath- 
ers, against  you,  my  country,  and  our  household  gods,  as,  under 

<•  With  great  honor,  by  a  concourse]  Magna  gloria  concurrentivm  vndiqve. 
Gerlach  takes  gloria  in  "the  sense  of  gloriafio,  laudatio.  Thus  it  will  be, 
"  with  the  great  honor  or  praise  of  a  concourse." 

<8  Sprinkled  with  saffron]  Croco  sparsa.  They  used  a  mixture  of  saffron 
and  wine  for  the  purpose.  Comp.  Prop.  iv.  6,  74;  Hor.  Ep.  ii.  1,  79 ;  Stat. 
Silv.  ii.  1,  160 ;  Spartiau.  Adr.,  c.  19 ;  Lucret.  ii.  416.  Plin.  H.  N.  xxi.  6  : 
Crocvm  vino  mire  congriiit,  prcecique  dulci  •  tritum  ad  iheatra  repknda. 

«  Letter  of  Pompey]  "In  the  consulship  of  Cotta  and  Octavius,  A.TJ.C. 
679,  the  unfavorablen'ess  of  the  weather,  and  the  depreciations  of  pirates, 
had  caused  a  great  scarcity  of  corn  at  Rome ;  and  the  money  which  had 
been  raised  to  supply  Metellus  for  the  Spanish  war  (see  Sail.  Fragm.  Incert. 
lib.,  Peainia  qmr  ad  Hiapanieme  Mlum,  etc.),  was  necessarily  expended  hi 
procuring  provisions  for  the  city.  Nor  WHS  Pompey,  who  was  at  the  head 
of  another  army  in  Spain,  sufficiently  assisted  from  home ;  while,  in  that 
part  of  the  country  which  he  occupied,  the  crop  of  corn  during  the  last  two 
years,  had  been  but  small.  In  tne  following  year,  accordingly,  the  army 


222  SALIftTST. 

my  leadership,  from  my  earliest  youth,  your  most  desperate  en- 
emies bave  been  defeated,  and  your  tranquillity  secured,  you 
could  have  decided  on  nothing  more  severe  than  you  now  deter- 
mine against  me,  whom,  after  exposing  me,  at  an  earlier  ago 
than  usual,50  to  a  most  arduous  war,  you  compel,  as  far  as  is  in 
your  power  (together  with  an  army  that  has  done  you  honor- 
able service),  to  perish  of  hunger,  the  most  wretched  of  all 
deaths.  Was  it  with  such  expectations  that  the  people  of  Rome 
sent  their  sons  into  the  field  ?  Is  such  the  recompense  given 
for  wounds,  and  for  so  much  blood  shed  in  defense  of  the  state  ? 
Weary  with  writing  and  sending  messengers  to  you,  I  have  ex- 
hausted the  whole  of  my  private  fortune  and  expectations,  while, 
during  the  last  three  years,  I  have  scarcely  received  from  you 
pay  sufficient  for  one.  What,  in  the  name  of  the  immortal 
gods,  do  you  think  of  me  ?  Do  you  suppose  that  my  own  re- 
sources are  equal  to  an  exchequer,  or  that  I  can  support  an  army 
without  provisions  and  money  ?  I  indeed  allow  that  I  set  out 
for  this  war  with  more  zeal  than  judgment,  having,  in  forty  days 
after  I  received  from  you  the  title  of  general,  assembled  an  army, 
and  driven  the  enemy,  who  were  then  pressing  upon  the  fron- 
tiers of  Italy,  from  the  Alps  into  Spain.  Over  those  mountains 
I  opened  a  passage  different  from  that  of  Hannibal,  and  more 
convenient  for  us.  I  recovered  Gaul,  the  Pyrenees,  Laletania," 
the  Ilergetes, w  and  withstood  the  first  attack  of  the  conquering 

•was  greatly  in  want  of  provisions,  as  well  as  of  money.  Fompcy,  having 
in  vain  solicited  supplies,  by  frequent  letters  and  messages,  from  the  senate, 
at  length  wrote  this  angry  epistle,  in  which  he  threatens,  in  no  very  obscure 
terms,  to  return  to  Italy  with  his  army.  The  people  were  accordingly  seized 
with  great  alarm,  dreading  that  Sertorius  might  follow  Pompey  J  or  even 
anticipate  him.  Lucullus,  too,  was  afraid  that  Pompey  would  snatch  from 
him  the  command  of  the  Mithridatic  war,  which  Pompey,  indeed,  greatly 
desired  to  have,  as  being  superior  to  that  which  he  held.  The  senate  were 
therefore  induced  to  send  the  requisite  supplies.  This  happened  two  years 
before  the  end  of  the  Sertorian  war."  JBurnouf. 

so  At  an  earlier  age  than  usual]  Contra  cetatem.  "  Ho  was  deputed  to  tho 
command  of  the  Sertorian  war  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight,  in  the  character 
of  pro-consul,  though  he  had  not  before  held  any  civil  office.  De  Brosses, 
who  says  (ii.  23)  that  he  was  only  twenty-three,  is  in  error."  JZu.rnnuf. 

61  Laletania]  Laletanlam.  This  is  the  reading  adopted  by  Cortius,  Bur- 
nouf,  De  Brosses,  and  Gerlach.  Laletania  was  a  district  of  Spain,  between 
the  Iberus  and  the  Pyrenees.  Havercamp  reads  Lacetaniam,  which  lay  in 
the  same  part  of  Spain,  a  little  farther  from  the  coast. 

M  The  Ilergetes]  I  read  Ilergetes,  with  De  Brosses ;  Havereamp  has  Her- 
getum;  Cortius,  Burnouf,  and  Gerlach,  read  Indiqetes ;  but  the  Ilergetes,  a 
more  considerable  people,  bordering  on  both  the  Lacetani  and  Laletani, 
seem  much  more  likely  to  nave  been  mentioned  by  Pompey.  Carrio  indeed 
notices  that  Pliny,  H.  N.  iii.  3,  has  Laletani  et  tndigetes;  but  this  proves 


FRAGMENTS  OP  THE 'HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.        223 

Sertorius  with  newly-raised  troops  and  inferior  numbers ;  and  1 
passed  the  winter,  not  in  the  towns,  or  so  as  to  gratify  my  sol- 
diers for  the  sake  of  popularity,63  but  in  the  midst  of  the  fiercest 
enemies.  Need  I  recount  the  battles  which  I  have  fought,  the 
expeditions  which  I  have  undertaken  in  the  winter,  the  towns 
which  I  have  destroyed  or  recovered  ?  Actions  speak  sufficiently 
for  themselves  without  the  aid  of  words.  The  capture  of  the 
adversary's  camp  at  Sucro,  the  battle  at  the  river  Durius,54  the 
slaughter  of  Herennius  the  enemy's  general,  with  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  army  and  the  city  of  Valentia,  are  sufficiently 
known  to  you.  For  these  services,  grateful  Fathers,  you  recom- 
pense me  with  want  of  money  and  want  of  food.  The  condition 
of  my  army  and  that  of  the  enemy,  are  consequently  similar. 
Pay  is  given  to  neither;  and  both  might  march  unopposed65 
into  Italy  ;  of  which  circumstance  I  warn  you,  and  entreat  you 
to  consider  of  it,  and  not  to  oblige  me  to  provide  for  iny  neces- 
sities on  my  own  responsibility.  That  portion  of  Hither  Spain, 
which  is  not  in  the  possession  of  the  enemy,  we  or  Sertorius 
have  utterty  desolated,  except  the  cities  on  the  coast ;  but  these 
are  a  positive  charge  and  burden  upon  us.  Gaul,  during  the 
last  year,  supplied  the  army  of  Metellus  with  pay  and  provis- 
ions, but  now,  from  the  badness  of  the  crops,  can  scarcely  sup- 
port itself.  For  my  own  part,  I  have  exhausted  not  only  my 
private  property,  but  my  credit.  To  you  alone,  Conscript 
Fathers,  can  we  apply ;  and,  unless  you  relieve  us,  the  army, 
and  the  whole  Spanish  war  with  it,  will  transfer  itself  against 
my  will,  but  not  without  forewarning  to  yourselves,  from  hence 
into  Italy. 

nothing.  The  Indigetes  or  Indicetsc  are  placed  by  geographers  on  the  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean,  at  the  foot  of  the  Pyrenees,  their  chief  town  being 
Emporium  or  Emporise. 

63  For  the  sake  of  popularity]  Ex  ambitione  med.  "  Neque  ita  ut,  per  am- 
bitionem,  milites  indulg^entius  haberem.  Arnbitionem  vero  intellige  nylitaris 
gratiae  captatiouem,  ut  in  Jug.,  c.  45."  Burnouf. 

M  Durius]  "  Pompey's  statement  would  seem  to  refer  to  the  river  Turia, 
not  the  Durius.  Our  author,  in  a  fragment  of  the  second  book,  says  Inter 
Iceva  montium  et  dextrum  flamen  Tunam,  quod^  VaUntiam  parvo  intervallo 
•praeitrfluit.  Plinius,  however,  calls  the  same  river  Jurius.  Gtrtvus.  De 
"Brasses  agrees  with  Cortius.  The  Turia  is  now  called  the  Guadalaviar. 

66  Unopposed]  Victor.  "The  army  of  Pompey,  victorious  in  the  field, 
might  be  driven  from  Spain  by  famine  ;  that  of  Sertorius,  though  conquered, 
might  then  enter  Italy  with  aa  little  opposition  as  if  it  had  been  victorious." 


224  SALLUST. 


SPEECH    OF    MACER    LICINIUS,       TRIBUNE    OF    THE    PEOPLE,    TO 
THE    ROMANS. 

"  If  you  did  not  know  the  difference,  my  fellow-countrymen, 
between  the  rights  transmitted  to  you  from  your  ancestors,  and 
the  servitude  intended  for  you  by  Sylla,  it  would  be  necessary 
for  me  to  enter  on  a  long  dissertation  on  the  subject,  and  to 
show  for  what  grievances,  and  on  what  occasions,  the  people  of 
Rome  withdrew  under  arms  from  the  senate,  and  how  they  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  tribunes  as  defenders  of  their  rights.  As 
it  is,  I  need  only  encourage  you,  and  guide  you  in  the  way  by 
which  I  think  your  liberty  must  be  secured.  I  am  not  ignorant 
how  great  that  power  of  the  nobility  is,  which  I,  alone,  de- 
ficient in  resources,  and  with  the  mere  empty  semblance  of 
office,  am  endeavoring  to  deprive  of  its  authority  ;  or  how  much 
more  securely  the  worst  of  men  act  in  combination,  than  the 
best  by  themselves.  But  besides  the  confidence  which  I  have 
in  you,  a  confidence  which  suppresses  all  apprehension,  I  am 
sure  that  to  struggle  unsuccessfully  in  defense  of  liberty,  is,  to 
a  man  of  spirit,  more  satisfactory  than  not  to  have  struggled  at 
all.  Yet  others,  who  have  been  created"  for  the  vindication 

61  Speech  of  Macer  Licinius]  "  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  almost  all 
power  had  been  taken  from  the  tribunes  of  the  people  by  Sylla.  The  consul 
Lepidus  was  the  first  that  subsequently  endeavored  to  re-establish  it ;  after- 
ward, A.tr.c.  678,  Sicinius,  one  ot  the  tribunes  themselves,  made  a  similar 
effort,  but  was  successfully  opposed  by  the  consul  C.  Scribonius  Cnrio.  In 
the  following  year,  C.  Aurelius  Cotta,  one  of  the  consuls,  restored  to  tho 
tribunes  the  right  of  holding  other  offices  after  the  tribunate.  In  A.U.O.  680, 
the  tribune  Quinctins  made  an  attempt  to  recover  the  whole  of  their  privi- 
leges, but  was  defeated.  At  last,  in  the  consulship  of  Cassiue  Varus  and 
Terentius  Lucullus.  A.U.C.  681;  C.  Licinius  Macer  brought  the  matter  forward 
again,  but  the  settlement  of  it  was  delayed  till  the  return  of  Fompey  from 
the  war  in  Spain.  That  Pompey,  when  he  was  afterward  consul  with  Crassus, 
A.U.C.  684.  restored  the  rights,  which  had  been  so  long  and  so  clamorously 
demanded,  to  the  people,  is  generally  known."  Burnpuf. 

"  Caius  Macer,  as  an  orator,  was  always  deficient  in  influence,  but  was  an 
advocate  of  such  diligence  as  could  scarcely  be  surpassed.  Had  not  his  life, 
his  manners,  and  his  look,  destroyed  the  effect  of  his  intellectual  power,  his 
\  name  among  pleaders  would  have  been  much  greater.  His  language, 
though  not  copious,  was  far  from  being  poor ;  though  not  highly  polished, 
it  was  far  from  being  rude ;  but  his  mode  of  utterance,  his  gesture,  and 
whole  demeanor,  were  entirely  devoid  of  grace.  His  care,  however,  in  pro- 
ducing and  arranging  his  matter,  was  so  extraordinary,  that  I  have  scarcely 
known  greater  diligence  or  attention  in  any  one  ;  yet  it  seemed  to  be  the 
offspring  rather  of  subtlety  than  of  skill  in  oratory.  Though  he  was  much 
esteemed  in  private,  he  had  a  greater  reputation  in  public  causes."  Cic. 
Brut.,  67. 

*7  Others,  who  have  been  created,  etc.]  Omnes  alii  creati  pro  jure  vestro. 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.         225 

of  your  rights,  have  all  been  induced  by  personal  interest,  by 
the  expectation  of  advantage,  or  by  actual  bribery,  to  turn  their 
whole  power  and  authority  against  you,  esteeming  it  better  to  be 
treacherous  for  hire  than  to  maintain  their  integrity  without  re- 
ward. They  have  all,  accordingly,  submitted  themselves  to  the 
rule  of  a  faction,  who,  on  the  pretense  of  conducting  a  war, 
have  assumed  the  control  of  the  treasury  and  the  army,  of  king- 
doms and  provinces,  and  have  built,  as  it  were,  out  of  the 
spoils  taken  from  you,  a  stronghold  for  your  oppression  ;  while 
you,  like  a  tame  herd,  yield  yourselves,  notwithstanding  the 
greatness  of  your  numbers,  to  be  possessed  and  fleeced  by  a  few, 
and  robbed  of  all  that  your  ancestors  left  you,  except  the  power 
of  electing  magistrates,  who  were  once  your  defenders  and  are 
now  your  tyrants.  All,  therefore,  have  now  gone  over  to  them  ; 
but  if  you  recover  your  privileges,  most  of  them  will  soon  re- 
turn to  you  (for  but  few  have  the  courage  to  defend  the  cause 
which  they  adopt),  and  all  other  advantages58  will  be  on  the  side 
of  you  who  are  the  stronger.  Can  you  fear,  indeed,  that  any 
force  of  your  adversaries  will  stop  you,  if  you  persist  in  a  pur- 
pose with  unanimity,  when  they  continue  to  dread  you  even 
though  inactive  and  irresolute  ?  unless  you  can  suppose  that 
Caius  Gotta,  a  consul  deep  in  the  heart  of  their  faction,69  restored 
certain  privileges  to  your  tribunes  from  some  other  motive  than 
fear.  As  for  Lucius  Sicinius,60  who  first  dared  to  speak  of  the 
tiibunitial  authority,  though  he  was  cut  off  while  you  scarcely 
ventured  to  murmur,  yet  his  oppressors  dreaded  your  displea- 
sure, even  before  you  complained  of  their  injustice.  At  such 
inactivity  on  your  part,  my  fellow-citizens,  I  can  not  sufficiently 
wonder  ;  for  you  well  understand  that  the  hope  of  redress  from 
them  is  vain. 

"  When  Sylla,  who  imposed  this  detestable  slavery  on  you, 

"  Not  only  the  tribunes,  bat  all  other  magistrates,  as  is  evident  from  im- 
peria,  which  follows."  Gerlach.  The  tribunes  of  the  people  had  no  im- 
perinm.  or  military  command,  but  only  jwtestas.  or  civil  power. 

<*  Other  advantages  \Coetera.  So  Cortius  and.  Burnout.  Havercamp  and 
Gerlach  have  cteten.  The  masculine,  indeed,  seems  preferable. 

5»  Deep  in  the  heart  of  their  faction]  Eat  factione  media.  "  Selected  for 
the  consulate  from  the  very  faction  of  your  enemies."  Bnrnovf.  De  Brosses 
understands  byfactio  med'ia,  a  party  who  had  determined  to  pursue  a  mid- 
dle course  of  action  between  the  people  and  the  nobles ;  but  who  else  has 
believed  in  the  existence  of  such  a  party  at  Kome  ? 

80  Lucius  Sicinius]  See  the  first  note  on  this  speech.  He  was  found  dead 
in  his  bed,  having  been  killed,  it  was  supposed,  at  the  instigation  of  the 
consul  Curio. 

10* 


226  SALLUST. 

(lied,  you  thought  that  there  was  an  end  of  your  troubles.  But 
Catulus,61  still  more  implacable  than  Sylla,  arose  in  his  stead. 
Disturbances  affected  you  in  the  consulship  of  Brutus  and 
^Emilius  Mamercus.63  Caius  Curio  played  the  tyrant  even  to 
the  destruction  of  your  innocent  tribune.63  With  what  fury 
Lucullus,  during  the  last  year,  made  head  against  Lucius  Quinc- 
tiu9,6'  you  all  witnessed.  And  what  an  uproar  is  now  excited 
against  myself!  But  such  proceedings  would  be  without  a  pur- 
pose, if  they  meant  to  cease  to  be  your  tyrants,  before  you  cer.se 
to  be  their  slaves.  Besides,  in  all  these  civil  ccmmotioijs,  though 
other  objects  are  pretended,  the  contention  on  both  sides  is  for 
sovereignty  over  you.  Other  struggles,  from  the  licentiousness 
of  the  nobility,  their  hatred  to  particular  persons,  or  their  un- 
bounded avarice,  have  burst  forth  from  time  to  time,  but  one 
thing  only  has  continued  to  be  the  aim  of  both  parties,  the  one 
seeking  to  secure  it,  and  the  other  to  abolish  it  forever,  I  mean 
the  tribunitial  power,  the  weapon  prepared  by  your  ancestors 
for  the  defense  of  your  liberty. 

"  To  these  matters  I  warn  and  entreat  you  to  give  serious 
consideration ;  not  changing  the  names  of  things  to  suit  your 
own  indolence,  and  giving  to  slavery  the  title  of  tranquillity, 
which,  if  villainy  prevail  over  justice  and  honesty,  you  will 
have  no  opportunity  to  enjoy,  though  you  might  have  had,  if 
you  had  not  bestirred  yourselves  at  all.  Reflect,  too,  that  un- 
less you  gain  the  masteiy,  they  will  press  you  harder  than 
before,  since  all  injustice  increases  its  safety  by  severity. 

"  '  What  think  you  that  we  should  do,  then  ?'  some  one  will 
say.  First  of  all,  I  think  that  you  should  lay  aside  your  present 
fashion  of  manifesting  activity  in  your  tongues,  and  cherishing 
pusillanimity  in  your  hearts,  and  of  meditating  on  liberty  only 
while  you  remain  in  the  place  where  you  are  publicly  addressed. 
In  the  next  place  (that  I  may  not  urge  you  to  those  forcible 

fl  Catulus]  The  same  who  is  mentioned  in  the  first  note  on  the  speech  of 
Fhilippus.  He  was  a  man  of  high  character ;  Macer  speaks  in  disparage- 
ment of  him  to  serve  his  own  purposes.  See  Cic.  De  Off.,  i.  22 ;  Veil.  Pat., 
ii.  31. 

63  Brutus  and  JSm'lius  Mamercus]  "  In  the  year  677,  when  the  war 
against  Lepidus  was  at  its  height,"  Burnouf. 

83  Innocent  tribune]  Sicinius.  See  above.  Curio  was  consul  with  Cn.  Oc- 
tavius,  in  the  year  678. 

e4  Lucius  Quinctius]  See  the  first  note.  "  Cicero  calls  him  an  orator  well 
qualified  to  make  turbulent  harangues,  Brut.,  c.  62.  He  also  speaks  of  him, 
and  of  the  disturbances  which  he  excited,  in  his  Oration  for  Cluentius,  c.  34, 
39,  40,  and  elsewhere."  Burrumf, 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.         227 

measures  by  which  your  ancestors  procured  for  themselves  tri- 
bunes of  the  people,  a  share  in  the  magistracy  previously  con- 
fined to  the  patricians,  and  the  privilege  of  voting  independ- 
ently of  the  senate),  I  would  ask,  since  you  have  full  power 
either  to  do  or  not  to  do,  on  your  own  account,  what  you  per- 
form at  the  command  and  for  the  service  of  others,'6  whether 
you  wait  for  Jupiter,  or  some  other  god,  to  advise  you  as  to 
your  conduct  ?  You  yourselves,  my  fellow-citizens,  by  execut- 
ing those  lordly  commands  of  the  consuls  and  decrees  of  the 
senators,  give  them  your  sanction  and  authority,  and  increase 
and  strengthen  the  despotism  exercised  over  you.  Not,  I  say. 
that  I  would  persuade  you  to  revenge  your  injuries,  but  rather 
to  remain  at  rest ;  nor  do  I  demand  restitution  of  your  rights 
from  a  love  of  discord,  as  they  falsely  charge  upon  me,  but 
from  a  desire  to  see  an  end  of  discord,  and,  if  they  obstinately 
refuse  you  justice,  I  do  not  recommend  armed  violence  or  a  se- 
cession, but  only  that  you  should  forbear  to  shed  your  blood  in 
their  behalf.  Let  them  hold  and  exercise  their  offices  in  their 
own  way ;  let  them  obtain  triumphs ;  let  them  pursue  Mithri- 
dntes  as  well  as  Sertorius  and  the  remnant  of  the  exiles,  with 
their  trains  of  statues  and  images  ;66  but  let  danger  and  toil  bo 
f. .r  from  you,  who  have  no  share  in  the  advantage  of  them ; 
unless  indeed  your  services  have  been  repaid  by  the  late  law, 
so  suddenly  passed,  for  the  distribution  of  corn  ;67  a  law  by 
which  they  have  estimated  the  liberty  of  each  individual  at  the 
price  of  ten  gallons68  of  corn,  an  allowance  not  more  nutritious 
than  that  which  is  granted  to  prisoners.  For  as,  by  that  small 

34  For  the  service  of  others]  ProaUis.  He  means  military  service ;  and 
hints  that  they  might  take  up  arms  for  themselves,  if  they  pleased,  or  might 
refuse  to  serve  in  the  army. 

«6  With  their  trains  ot  statues  and  images]  Cum  imagintfru*  suit.  "  Let 
them  lead  ont  the  smoky  effigies  of  their  forefathers  into  the  field,  instead 
of  soldiers."  Buriwuf 

67  Law — for — corn]  "In  the  year  679,  the  consul  Cotta  had  distributee? 
corn  to  the  people,  in  consequence  of  the  famine  of  which  I  have  spoken  in 
the  first  note  on  the  Letter  of  Pompey,  and  which  gave  occasion  to  the 
speech  of  Cotta  that  appears  below.  Afterward  a  new  law  seems  to  hnvo 
been  made  by  Cassius  and  Terentius  (in  the  year  in  which  this  speech  was 
delivered),  by  which  five  modii  of  corn  a  mo'uth  were  given  to  every  poor 
citizen."  Burnmtf. 

«  Ten  gallons]  Quini  modii.  "  The  modius,  the  principal  drv  measure 
of  the  Romans,  was  equal  to  one  third  of  the  amphora  (Volusius  ilsecianus, 
Festus,  Rhemn.  Fann.  ap.  Wurm,  §  67),  and  therefore  contained  1  gall. 
7-8576  pints  English."  Dr.  Smith's  Dictionary.  Five  modii  would  there- 
fore bo  equal  to  9  gall.  7'2S80  pints  ;  nearly  10  gallons. 


228  SALLUST. 

pittance,  death  is  just  kept  off  from  people  in  jails,  while  their 
strength  wastes  away  ;  so  neither  does  your  slender  provision 
relieve  you  from  the  care  of  keeping  your  families ;  and  the 
idlest  of  you  are  disappointed  of  your  humble  hope  of  support. 
And  though  indeed  it  were  ample,  yet  when  it  is  offered  as  the 
price  of  slavery,  what  insensibility  do  you  manifest  in  suffering 
yourselves  to  be  deceived,  and  in  thinking  that  you  are  laid 
under  obligation  by  what  is  intended  to  do  you  wrong !  For  it 
is  only  by  deluding  you  that  they  have  any  power  over  you  as 
a  body,  or  will  make  any  attempts  upon  you  ;  and  it  is  their 
art  against  which  you  most  guard. 

"  They  prepare  measures  to  soothe  you,  and  try  to  put  you 
off  till  the  arrival  of  Cneius  Pompey  ;  a  man  whom,  as  long  as 
they  dreaded  him,  they  bore  in  triumph  on  their  shoulders,  but 
whom,  when  their  fear  is  over,  they  are  ready  to  tear  in  pieces. 
Nor  are  they  ashamed  (assertors,  as  they  call  themselves,  of  lib- 
erty) of  being  too  timid  to  redress  a  grievance,  or  too  weak  to 
defend  a  right,  great  as  is  their  number,  without  the  support 
of  that  single  person.  To  myself,  indeed,  it  is  sufficiently  evi- 
dent, that  Pompey,  a  young  man  of  so  much  honor,  will  rather 
be  your  leader,  if  you  agree  to  choose  him,  than  a  sharer  in 
their  tyranny;  and  that  he  will  be  the  most  forward  to  re- 
establish the  power  of  your  tribunes.  But  there  was  a  time, 
my  fellow-citizens,  when  each  individual  depended  on  the  con- 
junctive strength  of  the  community,  and  not  the  community 
on  the  power  of  one  ;  and  when  no  single  person  could  give  or 
take  away  from  you  such  rights  as  those  under  consideration. 
But  I  have  said  enough ;  it  is  not  want  of  knowledge  that  im- 
pedes your  course,69  but  it  is  I  know  not  what  torpor  that  has 
seized  you,  under  the  influence  of  which  you  are  moved  neither 
by  honor  nor  by  disgrace  ;  you  have  given  up  every  thing  for 
the  sake  of  slothful  indulgence,  thinking  that  you  have  ample 
liberty  because  your  backs  are  spared  the  scourge,  and  because 
you  may  walk  whither  you  please,  a  spectacle  to  your  wealthy 
f  masters.  But  your  fellow-citizens  in  the  country  have  not  even 
these  privileges;  but  are  crushed  between  the  jarrings  of  the 
powerful,  and  sent  into  the  provinces  to  be  the  property  of  the 
magistrates.  They  fight  and  conquer  only  for  a  faction ;  and 

89  It  is  not  want  of  knowledge  that  impedes  your  course]  Neque  enim  ig- 
norantia,  res  claudit.  "  Claudit,  i.  e.  claudicat ;  non  prppter  ignorantiam  res 
minus  procedit.  Apul.  de  Deo  Socr.  Ut  ubi  dubUatione  dauderet,  ibi 
dwinatoone  c&nsisteret."  Cortius. 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLTTST.         229 

whatever  party  has  the  advantage,  the  people  suffer  the  treat- 
ment of  the  vanquished.  And  such  treatment  they  will  suffer 
daily  more  and  more,  as  long  as  your  oppressors  continue  to 
make  greater  efforts  in  support  of  their  tyranny,  than  you  exert 
for  the  recovery  of  your  liberty."  70 


FROM  THE  FOURTH  BOOK. 

LETTER    OP    MITHRIDATES    TO    KING    ARSACES.*1 

KING  MITHRIDATES  TO  KING  ARSACES,  wishing  health.  All 
who  are  solicited,  when  in  prosperous  circumstances,  to  take  a 
share  in  a  war,  ought  to  consider  whether  they  may  still  con- 
tinue at  peace,  and  whether,  at  the  same  time,  that  which  is 
requested  of  them  be  sufficiently  just  and  safe,  glorious  or  dis- 
honorable. If  you  were  at  liberty  to  enjoy  uninterrupted  tran- 
quillity ;  if  a  most  unprincipled  enemy  were  not  threatening 
you ;  if  illustrious  renown,  in  case  of  subduing  the  Romans, 
were  not  awaiting  you,  I  should  not  venture  to  ask  your 
alliance,  or  indulge  a  vain  hope  of  uniting  my  ill-fortune  with 
your  prosperity.  The  circumstances,  however,  which  seem 
likely  to  deter  you,  I  mean  your  resentment  against  Tigranes,™ 

TO  "  This  speech,  which,  is  the  most  vehement  and  bitter  of  all  those  in 
Sallust,  seems  worthy  of  the  highest  commendation.  It  has  all  the  sting 
and  strength  of  the  forum  (aculeos  et  nervos  fbrenses),  and  its  author  seems 
to  have  rivaled,  not  only  Thucydides,  but  Demosthenes  himself."  Ger~ 
lath. 

"  In  spite  of  the  clamors  of  Licinius,  however,  the  senate  succeeded  in 
putting  off  the  decision  of  the  matter  to  the  return  of  Poinpey ;  who, 
to  gain  the  favor  of  the  populace,  annulled  all  the  laws  of  the  dictator, 
and  restored  to  the  tribunes  the  privilege  of  disturbing  the  state."  Dureau 
DdamaUe. 

"  Letter  of  Mithridates  to  King  Arsaces]  "  Mithridates,  driven  from  Ma 
kingdom  by  the  successes  of  Lucullus,  had  fled  into  Armenia,  to  Tigranes. 
Here  he  renewed  the  war,  but  both  he  and  Tigranes  were  conquered,  and 
the  metropolis,  Tigranocerta,  was  taken.  At  this  period,  it  appeared  that 
Arsaces,  king  of  the  Parthians,  was  strong  enough  to  secure  victory  to 
whichsoever  side  he  might  attach  himself,  if  he  could  be  persuaded  to  at- 
tach himself  to  either.  His  alliance  was  accordingly  sought,  on  the  one 
hand  by  Lucullus,  and  on  the  other  by  Mithridates  and  Tigranes.  To  sway 
Ms  wavering  resolution  toward  himself,  Mithridates  wrote  the  following 
letter.  But  its  effect  on  Arsaces,  who  distrusted  Sextilius,  Lucullus's 
deputy,  was,  that  he  resolved  to  unite  himself  to  neither  side.  De  Brosses, 
v.  31,  "seq."  Bumovf. 

711  Resentment  against  Tigranes,  etc.]  "Tigranes,  several  years  before, 
had  been  given,  as  a  hostage  to  the  PartMans  (see  Justin.,  xxxviii.  3),  and 


230  SALLUST. 

<>:i  account  of  the  recent  war,  and  the  unfortunate  state  of  my 
lill'airs,  will  appear,  if  you  but  take  a  just  view  of  the  matter^ 
the  greatest  incentives  to  induce  you  to  join  me.  Tigranes, 
ready  to  submit  to  you,  will  consent  to  whatever  terms  you 
please  ;  for  myself,  Fortune,  who  has  taken  much  from  me,  has 
given  me  experience  to  advise  others ;  and  what  is  beneficial  for 
those  prosperous  as  yourself,  I,  who  am  fallen  from  the  heigh: 
of  power,  afford  you  an  example  for  the  better  conduct  of  your 
affairs. 

The  Romans  have  constantly  had  the  same  cause,  a  cause  of 
the  greatest  antiquity,  for  making  war  upon  all  nations,  people, 
and  kings,  the  insatiable  desire  for  empire  and  wealth.  Prompt- 
ed by  this  incentive,  they  first  took  up  arms  against  Philip, 
king  of  Macedonia ;  but,  being  pressed  by  the  Carthaginians, 
they  assumed  the  mask  of  friendship,73  and,  at  the  same  time, 
artfully  diverted  Antiochus,  who  was  coming  to  his  aid,  by  the 
concession  of  Asia.74  Soon  after,  when  they  had  made  Philip 
their  slave,"  Antiochus  was  despoiled  of  all  his  dominions  on 
this  side  Mount  Taurus,  and  ten  thousand  talents.  As  for  Per- 
ses,  the  son  of  Philip,  when,  after  many  and  various  contests,  he 
had  received  from  them  a  pledge  of  faith  before  the  gods  of 
Samothrace,  these  crafty  devisers  of  treachery,  who  had  given 
him  life  by  the  articles  of  their  agreement,  killed  him  by  de- 
priving him  of  sleep.70  Eumenes,  of  whose  friendship  they  os- 

had  been  restored  by  them  to  his  father's  kingdom  ;  but  compelled,  at  the 
same  time,  to  give  up  seventy  valleys  of  the  Armenian  territory  as  the  price 
of  liis  restoration.  (Strab.,  xi.)  Some  time  afterward,  when  his  courage  was 
roused  by  his  alliance  with  Mithridatcs,  he  resumed  possession  of  his  land; 
and  threw  off  the  yoke  of  the  Parthians  altogether.  Hence  the  anger  ot 
Arsaces.  De  Brosses,  v.  2."  Burnouf. 

'3  Assumed  the  mask  of  friendship]  Amicitiamsimulantes.  "Friendship, 
namely,  for  Philip.  And  as  they  pretended  friendship  for  Philip  while  the 
Panic  continued,  so  they  pretended  friendship  for  Antiochus  as  long  as  the 
war  with  Philip  continued."  Burnovf. 

74  Concession  of  Asia]  Concessione  Asm.  "It  nowhere  appears  that  the 
Eomans,  at  that  time,  made  any  formal  cession  of  any  part  ot  Asia  to  Anti- 
ochus. But  we  find  from  Livy,  xxxiii.  39,  that  Antiochus,  when  Philip  was 
fighting  for  the  Eomans,  took  the  opportunity  of  seizing  on  several  cities 
belonging  to  that  prince,  and  that  the  Eomans,  at  the  time,  took  no  notiw 
of  the  matter."  Burnotij.  ' 

76  Made  Philip  their  slave]  Tracto  Philippo.  "  Sc.  in  servit>item,  under 
the  name  of  an  ally ;  for  Philip  fought  on  the  side  of  the  Eomans  against 
Antiochus,  Livy,  xxxvi.  8."  Burnmif. 

78  Depriving  him  of  sleep]  When  Perses  was  defeated  by  Paullus 
-i3£milius,  and  driven  from  Macedonia,  he  fled  to  the  island  of  Samothrace, 
and  took  refuge  in  a  temple.  Octavius,  the  commander  of  the  Eoman  fleet, 
persuaded  him  to  quit  it,  and  trust  himself  to  the  faith  of  the  Eomans. 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.        231 

tentatious'y  i>oast,  (hoy  at  first  betrayed  to  Antiochos,  ;is  the 
prio'  of  :i  peace  with  him.  Attain*,  the  guardian  of  a  capture;! 
territory,7  they  ivdm-ed,  by  | •ivuniary  exactions  and  insults, 
from  a  monarch  to  the  most  wreiched  of  slaves;  and  then,  hav- 
ing forged  an  unnatural^  will  in  his  name,  they  led  his  sen 
Aristonicus,  for  having  attempted  the  recovery  of  his  father's 
kingdom,  in  triumph  like  a  conquered  enemy.  Asia  was  next 
occupied  by  their  troops,  and  at  length,  on  the  death  of  Nicom- 
edes,™  they  seized  and  ravaged80  the  whole  of  Bithynia,  though 
there  was  undoubtedly  a  son  born  of  Nusa,  whom  they  had  re- 
cognized as  queen.  What  sh^Jl  I  say  of  myself?  I  was  on 
every  side  separated,  by  kingdoms  and  provinces,81  from  their 
dominions,  yet,  as  I  was  reported  to  be  rich  and  averse  to  slavery, 
they  provoked  me  to  war  by  setting  Nicomedes  upon  me  ;M  I 
being,  indeed,  perfectly  aware  of  their  evil  intentions,  and  hav- 
ing declared  with  regard  to  the  Cretans,  then  the  only  free  peo- 
ple in  the  world,  and  king  Ptolemy,  that  that  would  happen 

^7ell.  Paterc.,  i.  9.  Liv.,  xliv.  xlv.  Having  been  led  in  triumph,  he  was 
allowed  to  reside,  at  the  intercession  of  .Smilius,  under  guard  at  Alba, 
•where  he  is  said  by  most  authors  to  have  died  by  abstaining  from  food. 
Plutarch,  however,  in  his  life  of  Paullus  ^Emilius,  c.  37,  relates  that  the 
soldiers  by  whom  he  was  guarded,  having  for  some  reason  token  a  dislike 
to  him.  and  not  daring  to  offer  him  violence,  used  means  to  prevent  him 
from  sleeping,  by  which  he  died.  See  also  Diodor.  Sic.  lib.,  xxxi. 

77  Guardian  of  a  captured  territory]  Castodem  agri  captivi.  "He  insinu- 
ates that  the  kingdom  of  Attains,  even  during  his  life,  was  but  a  province 
of  the  Romans."  Burnouf. 

7f>  Unnatural]  Impio.  Because  Attains,  by  such  a  will,  set  aside  his  own 
children.  Justin.,  xxxvi.  4,  intimates  that  Attains  was  never  very  sound  in 
mind.  Porphyrio,  on  Hor.  Oil.,  n.  18,  Reque  Attali  Ignotus  hares  regiam  oc- 
cupavi,  says  that  the  expression  Jiceres  occapavi  "  conveys  a  suspicion,  from 
whicl 
will: 

only  one  that  suspected  the  Romans  of  unfair  dealing  in  the  matter. 

711  Nicomedes|  He  also  left  his  dominions  to  the  Romans  by  will.  See 
Liv.  Epit.,  xciii. ;  Veil.  Pat.  ii.  4. 

*"  Seized  and  ravaged]  Diripuere. 

•'  Provinces]  TetrarchiU.     See  on  Cat.,  c.  20. 

81  By  setting  Nieomedes  upon  me]  Per  Nicomedem.  "He  makes  the  same 
complaint  in  Justin.,  xxxviii.  5.  Nieomedes  had  been  expelled,  bv  the 
arms,  indeed,  of  his  brother,  but  by  the  secret  instigation  of  Mithridatea, 
from  his  kingdom  ;  and  the  senate,  by  sending  legates,  effected  his  restora- 
tion. .  .  .  But  the  Roman  generals,  who  hoped  for  rich  spoils  from  a  war, 
incited  Nicomedes  to  invade  the  dominions  of  Mithridates.  Of  this  aggres- 
sion Mitlmdutes  made  bitter  complaints,  but  finding  no  redress,  thought  it 
time  to  commence  hostilities.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  war  with  Mithri- 
dates, who  had  previously,  in  name  at  least,  been  the  ally  of  the  Romans. 
See  Appian,  De  Bell.  Mithrid."  Burnouf. 


232  SALLUST. 

which  has  since  come  to  pass.  My  wrongs  I  avenged  ;  I  ex- 
pelled Nicomedes  from  Bithynia ;  I  recovered  Asia,  the  spoil  of 
king  Antiochus  ;"3  I  took  the  heavy  yoke  of  servitude  from 
Greece.  It  was  only  the  baseness  of  Archelaus,"4  that  vilest  of 
slaves,  in  betraying  my  army,  that  prevented  my  progress.  And 
those  whom  cowardice,  or  the  wretched  policy  of  resting  their 
security  on  my  efforts,  withheld  from  taking  anus  in  my  behalf, 
pay  the  severest  peualties  for  their  folly ;  Ptolemy  is  buying 
off  war,  from  day  to  day,  with  money  ;85  and  the  Cretans,88  who 
have  already  been  once  attacked,  will  see  no  end  of  hostilities 
till  they  are  utterly  subjugated.* 

For  my  own  part,  perceiving  that  war  against  me  was  rather 
delayed  by  the  Romans  (on  account  of  their  troubles  at  home), 
than  peace  secured  to  me,  I  resumed  hostilities  ;  though  Tigra- 
nes,  who  now  too  late  approves  my  counsels,  refused  to  join 
me ;  though  you  were  at  a  great  distance  ;  and  though  all  the 
neighboring  powers  were  under  submission  to  my  enemies.  I 
routed  Marcus  Cotta,  the  Roman  general,  in  a  battle  by  land  at 
Chalcedon  ;  and  despoiled  him  of  a  fine  fleet  by  sea.  But  be- 
ing delayed,  at  the  head  of  a  vast  army,  by  a  long  siege  at 
Cyzicus,  I  suffered  from  want  of  provisions  ;  for  no  one  assisted 
me  by  land,  and  the  winter  prevented  all  relief  by  sea.  Com- 
pelled, therefore,  though  not  by  any  force  of  the  enemy,  to  re- 

83  Asia,  the  spoil  of  king  Antiochus]  Asiamque  spolium  regis  Antiochi. 
"  He  calls  it  a  spoil,  because  it  had  been  taken  from  Antiochus  by  the  Ro- 
mans.   See  above,  Antiochus omni  cis  Taurumayro — spoliatus  eat:  'Antio- 
chns  was  despoiled  of  all  his  dominions  on  this  side  Mount  Taurus.' "  Cor- 
lius. 

84  Archelaus]  "  General  of  the  army  of  Mithridates,  who,  having  lost 
Athens,  and  suffered  defeats  at  Chseronea  and  Orchomenua,  made  peace,  in 
the  name  of  Mithridates,  with  Sylla,  to  which  the  king,  after  some  delay, 
gave  his  sanction.    But  extrordinary  honors  being  paicl  to  Archelaus  by 
Sylla,  Mithridates  began  to  suspect  him  of   having  acted  treacherously, 
both  in  the  field  and  with  regard  to  the  peace ;  and  his  suspicions  were  in- 
creased, when,  being  sent  to  the  legions  of  Fimbria,  who  had  expressed 
some  intention  of  deserting  to  Mithridates,  he  himself  was  taken  prisoner 
by  them,  and  his  attendants  slain.     Having  afterward  recovered  his  liberty, 
but  dreading  the  wrath  of  his  master,  he  fled,  with  his  wives  and  children, 
to  the  Romans,  to  whom  he  ever  continued  faithful.    See  Plutarch,  Vit. 
Syll.  and  Appian  de  Bell.  Mithrid."  Bnrnouf. 

86  With  money]  Pretio,  "  A  force  d'argent."  De  Brasses.  "  He  perhaps 
refers  to  those  large  presents  made  by  Ptolemy  to  Lucullus.  Plutarch  in 
Lucull."  Cortius. 

M  The  Cretans,  etc.]  "  The  Cretan  war,  if  we  would  but  admit  the  truth, 
we  ourselves  occasioned,  solely  from  the  desire  of  subduing  that  noble 
island.  It  was  thought  to  have  favored  Mithridates,  and  we  resolved  to 
take  vengeance  for  this  offense  by  force  of  arms." — Florus,  iii.  7. 


FRACMKXTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.        -j;>:j 

turn  to  my  own  hereditary  dominions,  I  had  the  misfortune  to 
lose,  by  shipwrecks  at  Pariuni"'  and  Heraclea,  my  fleet  and  the 
flower  of  my  troops.  I  recruited  niy  army,  however,  at  Cabira  ;6S 
but,  after  various  encounters  with  Lucullus,  a  second  scarcity 
affected  both  of  us.  But  he  had  the  kingdom  of  Ariobarzanes,89 
still  uninjured  by  the  war,  for  a  resource ;  while  I,  finding 
all  the  country  round  me  wasted,  retired  to  Annenia ;  the  Ro- 
mans pursuing,  not  me,  but  their  own  plan90  of  subverting 
every  kingdom  ;  and  because  they  were  enabled,  from  the  nar- 
rowness of  the  pass  through  which  we  marched,  to  prevent  us 
from  coming  fairly  to  action,  they  attribute  what  was  the  con- 
sequence of  Tigranes'  imprudence,  to  the  successful  efforts  of 
their  own  arms. 

I  entreat  you  then  to  consider,  whether,  if  I  am  subdued,  you 
will  find  yourself  better  able  to  resist  the  Romans,  or  more 
likely  to  see  an  end  put  to  the  war.  I  know  indeed  that  you 
have  abundance  of  troops,  arms,  and  treasure ;  on  which  ac- 
counts you  are  sought  by  me  as  an  ally,  and  by  them  as  a  prey. 
And  what  remains  best  for  you91  to  determine,  is,  while  the 
kingdom  of  Tigranes  is  still  flourishing,  and  while  I  am  in  pos- 
session of  troops  inured  to  war,  to  bring  the  contest  to  a  termin- 
ation at  a  distance  from  home,  and  with  little  labor,  by  the 
efforts  of  our  own  soldiers ;  since  Tigranes  and  myself  can 
neither  conquer  nor  be  conquered  without  hazard  to  you. 

Are  you  ignorant  that  the  Romans  had  spread  themselves 
westward  until  the  ocean  stopped  their  progress,  before  they 
turned  their  arms  against  us  ?  And  that  they  have  had  nothing, 
from  the  very  commencement  of  their  being,  neither  home,  nor 
wives,  nor  lands,  nor  rule,  but  what  they  have  gained  by  rapine  ? 
Originally  a  herd  of  fugitives,  without  a  country,  without  any 

87  Parium]  "  A  town  on  the  coast  of  My_sia  Minor,  not  far  from  Cyzicus. 
See  Cellar.,  iii.  3."  Cortius.  Heraclea  was  in  Pontus. 

<*  Cabira]  A  city  of  Pontus,  bordering  on  Armenia,  afterward  named 
Diopolis  by  Pompey."  Cortius. 

b»  Ariobarzanes]  King  of  Cappadocia. 

90  Pursuing,  not  me,  out  their  own  plan]  Secuti  turn  me,  sed  morem  simm. 
Of  such  a  play  ou  a  word,  I  believe  that  there  is  no  other  instance  in  Sal- 
lust 

91  And  what  remains  best  for  you,  etc.]  Cceterum  consillum  est,  Tlffranif 
regno  Integra,  etc.     This  is  the  reading  of  Burnouf,  whose  interpretation  I 
have  followed,  but  without  feeling  sure  that  it  is  right.     Cortius  points  the 
words  consttium  est  Tigranis,  regno,  etc.,  a  mode  which  Gerlach  advocates 
in  his  notes,  but  gives  the  other  method  in  his  text.     He  justly  callr-  tin 
passages  loeu*  difficittimus. 


234  SALLUST. 

known  parents,"  they  founded  an  empire  by  the  destruction  of 
mankind,  and  are  restrained,  neither  by  human  nor  divine  ob- 
ligations, from  ravaging  and  oppressing  all,  whether  friends  or 
allies,  near  or  remote,  weak  or  strong.  Every  power  that  does 
not  become  their  slave,  and  regal  powers  most  of  all,  they  re- 
gard as  an  enemy.  Few  states  wish  for  liberty  ;93  but  most  pre- 
ier  just  monarchs;  on  which  account  they  detest  us,  as  their 
rivals  in  power,  and  likely  to  be  the  avengers  of  the  cause  of 
mankind.  For  yourself  in  particular,  who  are  master  of  Seleu- 
eia,  the  greatest  of  cities,  and  of  Persia,  renowned  for  its  wealth, 
what  can  you  expect  from  them  but  dissimulation  for  the  pres- 
ent, and  war  hereafter  ?  The  Romans  have  weapons  to  attack 
all,  but  the  keenest  for  those  whose  conquest  will  yield  most 
spoil.  It  is  by  daring  and  deceit,  and  by  raising  war  upon  war, 
that  they  have  become  great.  Pursuing  this  course  they  will 
either  suppress  all  other  powers,  or  perish  in  the  attempt.  And 
to  effect  their  destruction  will  not  be  difficult,  if  you  on  the 
side  of  Mesopotamia,  and  I  on  that  of  Armenia,  surround  their 
army,  which  will  be  thus  deprived  of  provisions  and  succor,  and 
which,  indeed,  has  been  hitherto  preserved  only  by  the  favor 
of  Fortune,  or  by  our  own  fault.  You  will  then  be  celebrated 
among  posterity,  as  having  come  to  the  aid  of  great  princes,94 
and  having  suppressed  the  spoilers  of  nations.  This  course  I 
advise  and  exhort  you  to  take  ;  and  not,  by  suffering  me  to  per- 
ish, to  delay  your  own  destruction  merely  for  a  while,  rather 
than  become  a  conqueror  by  uniting  with  me.95 

92  "Without  any  known  parents]  Sine  parentibus.  "Sans  parens."  De 
Brasses.  Cortius  takes  parentes,  in  this  passage,  in  the  sense  of  subjects, 
saying  that,  in  the  miscellaneous  multitude  that  formed  the  origin  of  Kome, 
there  were  neither  imperantes  nor  parentes,  neither  governors  nor  subjects  ; 
but  this  interpretation  is  justly  condemned  by  Gerlach,  who  cites  from 
Sen.  Ep.,  108,  And  pater  nutttts,  and  from  Hor.  Sat.  i.,  6,  10,  Viros  nullis 
majoribus  ork>9.  He  might  have  added  what  is  said  of  Servius  TullLis  in 
IJvy.Patre  nullo,  rtvitre  send,. 

83  Few  states  wish  for  liberty]  Pavel  libertatem — volunt.  "  He  speaks 
with  regard  to  the  character  of  the  Asiatics,  who  neither  knew  liberty  by 
experience,  nor  had  any  due  conception  of  it ;  referring  especially  to  the  case 
of  the  Cappadocians,  who,  when  the  last  of  the_  family  of  their  king  Ariar- 
athes,  who  had  been  killed  by  MithridateSj  died,  were  made  free  oy  their 
own  senate  at  the  direction  of  Mithridates  himself;  but  they  soon  declared 
that  a  nation  could  not  exist  without  a  monarch,  and  chose  Ariobarzanes  for 
their  king,  with  the  approbation  of  their  senate.  Justin.,  xxxviii.  2.  '  Lib- 
erty.' says  Montesquieu,  has  appeared  insupportable  to  people  who  have 
not  been  accustomed  to  enjoy  it;  as  a  pure  air  is  sometimes  hurtful  to  such 
as  have  lived  in  marshy  districts.'  Spirit  of  Laws,  xix.  2."  Burnouf. 

94  Great  princes]  Magnis  regibus.     Himself  and  Tigranes. 

95  "  The  arts  of  the  Romans  are  nowhere  more  fully  exposed  than,  in  tin? 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.         235 


Of  what  book  the  following  speech  is  a  fragment  is  uncertain.  Cortius, 
Gerlach,  and  Buruouf,  think  that  it  formed  part  of  the  third.  De  Brosses 
places  it  in  the  second. 

SPEECH  OF  CAIUS  COTTA,"  THE  CONSUL,  TO  THE  PEOPLE. 

"  It  has  been  my  lot,  my  fellow-citizens,  to  experience  many 
perils  at  home,  and  many  reverses  in  the  field  ;  which,  by  the 
help  of  the  gods  and  my  own  efforts,  I  have  partly  endured  and 
partly  surmounted ;  but  in  none  of  them  have  I  been  found 
wanting  in  ability  to  direct  my  conduct,  or  in  industry  to  exe- 
cute my  plans.  Prosperity  and  adversity  have  wrought  changes 
in  my  resources,  but  never  in  my  mind.  Yet,  in  our  present 
calamitous  circumstances,  every  support,  in  common  with  For- 
tune, seems  to  have  deserted  me.  Old  age,  too,  which  is  a  bur- 
den in  itself,  doubles  my  anxiety ;  for,  at  my  advanced  period 
of  life,  I  can  not  hope  even  to  die  with  honor.97  Should  I 
prove  a  traitor  to  you,  and,  after  being  twice  &ora,08  lightly 
esteem  my  household  gods,  my  country,  and  this  supreme  com- 
mand, what  torture  would  be  sufficient  for  me  during  life,  or 
what  punishment  after  death  ?  All  the  torments  attributed  to 
the  internal  regions  would  be  too  little  for  my  guilt. 

letter.  "We  are  not  to  believe,  however,  with  the  learned  De  Brosses,  that 
it  was  written  by  Mithridates  himself;  ....  for  the  commencement  of  it 
is  a  manifest  imitation  of  Thucydides,  i.  32 ;  and  the  diction  of  Sallust  is 
oasily  to  be  recognized  throughout  it."  Burnovf. 

88  Cains  Cotta]  "  This  speech,  as  appears  from  internal  evidence,  was 
spoken  by  Cains  Aurelius  Cotta,  consul  in  the  year  679,  when  a  disturbance 
had  arisen  among  the  people  in  consequence  of  the  famine  of  which  we  have 
spoken  in  the  first  note  on  the  Letter  of  Ppmpey.  It  ought,  therefore,  to 
be  referred  to  the  third  book  of  Sallust's  History ;  and  they  are  greatly  in 
error  who  attribute  it  to  Marcus  Cotta,  who  was  routed  by  Mithridates,  and 
whom  they  suppose  to  be-  here  deprecating  the  anger  of  the  people  on  ac- 
count of  his  defeat.  It  is  plain,  from  the  words  of  the  speaker,  that  the 
people  were  threatening  him  with  death  under  the  influence  of  hunger. 
,  .  .  .  C.  Cotta  was  a  very  great  orator.  Cicero  says  much  respecting  him. 
Brut.  30,  49,  55.  He  is  also  one  of  the  speakers  in  the  treatise  De  Orators. 
Bvrnfnif.  Gerlach's  remarks,  on  the  authorship  of  this  speech,  are  to  the 
same  effect. 

"7  Even  to  die  with  honor]  "For  he  can  not  die  with  honor,  who  dies 
under  the  imputation  of  a  great  crime."  Burnoi'f. 

»8  Twice  born]  Bis  genitus.  "Those  were  said  to  be  li#  ffeniti  in  the 
?.tnte,  who,  after  some  calamity,  attained  eminent  honor,  or  who,  after  being 
b:mi*hed  from  their  country,  were  received  into  it  again.  That  Cotta  had 
been  exiled,  and  had  returned,  appears  from  what  he  afterward  says,  and 
from  Cicero,  Brnt.,  c.  90.  So  Cicero,  Epist.  ad  Att.,  vi.  6,  calls  his  own  re- 
turn nakcfftvtvia^  Cortina.  He  was  exiled,  according  to  Burnouf,  A.C.C. 
C<53,  and  recalled  by  Sylla  after  his  victory  over  Marius. 


230  8ALLUST. 

"  From  my  earliest  manhood,  both  as  a  public  and  private 
character,  my  conduct  has  been  before  you  ;  whoever  wished 
to  profit  by  my  advocacy,  my  counsel,  or  my  purse,  has  never 
been  refused.  I  have  exerted  no  subtilty  of  eloquence  or  talent 
to  work  mischief.  Though  most  desirous  of  friendship  as  a 
private  individual,  I  have  incurred  the  most  violent  enmities  in 
the  cause  of  the  state.  But  when  I  was  overpowered,  together 
with  the  commonwealth,  by  a  victorious  faction  ;  when  1  stood 
in  need  of  relief  from  others,  and  was  expecting  still  greater 
calamities,  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  restored  to  me  my  country, 
and  my  household  gods,  with  the  greatest  possible  honor.  For 
such  benefits,  if  I  could  lay  down  a  life  (which  is  impossible) 
for  each  of  you,  I  should  hardly  think  that  I  testified  sufficient 
gratitude.  Since  life  and  death  belong  to  nature  ;'"  but  the 
privilege  of  living  among  one's  countrymen,  without  censure, 
uninjured  in  reputation  or  fortune,  is  given  and  received  as  a 
favor  from  one's  country. 

"  You  have  elected  us  Consuls,1  my  fellow-citizens,  at  a  time 
when  the  republic  is  in  the  greatest  embarrassment  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  The  generals  in  Spain2  are  calling  for  pay, 
troops,  arms,  and  provisions ;  demands  which  their  circum- 
stances oblige  them  to  make ;  for,  from  the  defection  of  our 
allies,3  and  the  retreat  of  Sertorius  over  the  mountains,  they  can 
neither  come  to  an  engagement,  nor  obtain  necessary  supplies. 
Armies  are  maintained  in  Asia  and  Cilicia,  on  account  of  the 
formidable  power  of  Mithridates.  Macedonia  is  full  of  enemies, 
as  well  as  the  maritime  parts  of  Italy  and  the  provinces.  Our 
revenues,  which  are  small,  and,  from  the  distractions  of  war, 
irregularly  received,  scarcely  suffice  for  the  half  of  our  ex- 

88  Since  life  and  death  belong  to  nature,  etc.]  Nam  vita  et  mors  jwa 
naturae,  sunt<  etc.  "  If  I  could  lay  down  a  life  for  each  of  you,  I  should  only 
give  what  belongs  to  nature,  and  not  to  man  :  but  you  gave  me  what  be- 
longs to  yourselves,  namely,  the  privilege  of  living  without  dishonor,  and 
even  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  fame  and  fortune  among  my  countrymen. 
What  I  should  offer  to  you,  could  not  be  received  as  a  real  gift ;  what  you 
conferred  on  me,  was  both  given  and  received  as  the  greatest  of  gifts." 
£urnouf. 

1  Us  Consuls]  Himself  and  Lucullus,  afterward  famous  for  his  conduct 
of  the  Mithridatic  war. 

8  The  generals  in  Spain]  Pompey  and  Metellus.  See  Pompey's  Letter, 
and  the  notes.  "  From  these  words  it  is  plain  that  this  speech  was  de- 
livered some  short  time  before  the  Letter  of  Pompey  was  sent  to  the  senate ; 
for  Lucullus  and  Cotta  granted  Pompey's  requests."  Gerlach. 

8  Defection  of  our  allies]  "  Those  in  Spain,  whom  Sertorius  had  detach- 
ed from  the  Romans."  Bumouf. 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  SALLUST.        23 Y 

penses;4  and  hence  we  sail  with  a  fleet,  for  conveying  pro- 
visions to  the  troops,  much  smaller  than  on  previous  occasions. 

"  If  this  state  of  things  has  been  produced  by  treachery  or 
neglect  in  us,  act  against  us  as  vengeance  may  prompt  you  ; 
inflict  the  most  severe  punishment  upon  us.  But  if  Fortune, 
which  is  common  to  all,  has  merely  frowned  upon  us,  why  do 
you  meditate  resolutions  unworthy  of  yourselves,  of  us,  and  of 
the  commonwealth  ?  For  myself,  whose  long  life  is  drawing  to 
a  close,  I  do  not  deprecate  death,  if,  by  the  infliction  of  it,  any 
inconvenience  may  be  removed  from  you ;  nor  can  I  terminate 
my  life,  the  life  of  a  free-born  citizen,  in  a  more  honorable 
cause  than  that  of  promoting  your  welfare.  I,  Caius  Cotta, 
your  consul,  am  here  before  you ;  I  do  what  our  ancestors,  in 
unsuccessful  wars,  have  often  done  ;  I  devote  and  offer  myself 
for  the  republic.  But  consider  to  what  sort  of  person  you  must 
hereafter  intrust  its  interests  ;  for  no  man  of  merit  will  be  will- 
ing to  accept  such  an  honor,  when  he  must  be  accountable  for 
misfortunes  at  sea,  and  for  all  the  events  of  war,  whether  con- 
ducted by  himself  or  by  others,  or  come  to  an  ignominious 
end.  Remember,  however,  when  you  have  put  me  to  death, 
that  I  died,  not  for  any  iniquitous  or  avaricious  practices,  but 
resigning  my  breath  willingly  in  behalf  of  those  to  whom  I  owe 
the  highest  obligations. 

"  But  I  conjure  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  by  your  regard  for 
yourselves,  and  by  the  glory  of  your  ancestors,  bear  up  against 
adversity,  and  devise  proper  measures  for  the  good  of  the  state. 
To  the  management  of  a  great  empire  much  care,  and  much 
toil,  are  necessary ;  toil  from  which  it  is  in  vain  for  you  to 
shrink,  and  in  vain  to  look  for  the  affluence  of  peace,  when 
every  province  and  realm,  every  sea  and  land,  is  embroiled  or 
exhausted  with  war." 

*  Half  of  our  expenses]    Partem  sumptuum.     Sc.  dimidiam.    So  dua 
parUs  is  used  for  two  thirds. 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  CJ]SAR,  ON  THE 
GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  STATE. 

WHICH     HAVE     BEEN     ASCRIBED     TO     SALLUST. 


"  THESE  Letters  were  formerly  entitled  Orations.  But  that  they  are 
Letters  is  apparent  from  various  passages  in  them  ;  and  especially  from 
the  twelfth  section  of  the  first,  in  which  the  writer  says,  forsitan,  im- 
perator,  perlectis  litteris,  etc.  I  have  therefore  followed  Cortius  in  giving 
them  that  name.  That  which  I  have  placed  first,  in  accordance  with 
the  opinions  of  the  best  French  translators,  Be  Brasses,  Bureau  Bela- 
malle,  and  Eusebe  Salvert,  is  generally  put  second.  But  it  is  evident, 
from  the  ninth  section  of  the  first,  and  from  the  second  section  of  the 
second,  that  they  were  written  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  here 
given. 

"  There  has  been  much  contention  among  scholars  whether  they 
were  written  by  Sallust,  or  by  some  imitator  of  Sallust's  stylo.  Cortius 
maintains  that  they  are  not  Sallust's,  and  bestows  great  labor  in  prov- 
ing that  every  word  in  them  may  be  found  in  Sallust's  other  writings ; 
and  hence  infers  that  they  are  not  the  composition  of  Sallust.  Any 
other  person  might  possibly,  from  such  premises,  have  formed  a  differ- 
ent conclusion.  But  Cortius  wrote  his  commentary  in  a  passion,  and 
does  not  scruple  to  charge  the  author  of  the  Epistles,  throughout  his 
notes,  with  the  grossest  folly  and  stupidity ;  reproaches  which  would 
certainly  recoil  upon  himself,  had  ho  not,  by  his  other  annotations 
on  Sallust,  honorably  rendered  himself  proof  against  them.  Bouza, 
a  man  of  as  great  learning  as  Cortius,  asserts  that  'they  must  certainly 
be  Sallust's ;  '  for  there  could  not  be  taken,'  says  he,  '  from  the  samo 
spring,  two  drops  of  water  more  like  to  one  another  than  these  letters 
are  like  the  relics  of  Sallust  which  fortune  has  spared  us.'  That  such  is 
the  case,  every  one  who  reads  the  letters  will  understand  as  well  as 

Bouza Carrio  expresses  doubts;  of  which  the  chief 

cause  is,  that  they  are  not  cited  by  the  old  grammarians,  who  adduce  so 
many  phrases  from  Sallust's  other  works;  and  I  am  willing  to  allow  this 
objection  its  duo  weight.  But  Be  Brasses  answers  it  by  observing  that 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  CAESAR.  239 

they  may  have  been  little  known,  from  having  been  written  as  to  a 
private  friend,  and  without  any  intention  that  they  should  be  laid  be- 
fore the  public. 

"  They  were  found  by  Pomponius  Lsetus  in  a  manuscript  in  the  Vati- 
can, attached  to  the  fragments  of  Sallust's  History.  Lsetus,  when  he 
published  them,  did  not  prefix  Sallust's  name ;  but  that  circumstance  ia 
no  proof  for  or  against  them.  I  am  induced  to  ascribe  them  to  Sallust, 
first,  by  the  diction,  which  is  truly  Sallustian,  and,  secondly,  by  the  re- 
markable knowledge  of  political  affairs  which  appears  in  them.  It  seems 
impossible  to  me  that  any  Pseudo- Sallust  could  have  brought  the  days 
of  Caesar  so  vividly  before  his  mental  vision,  and  have  spoken  with  such 
fitness  and  accuracy  concerning  the  transactions  of  those  times.  There 
are  many  things  in  the  letters  which,  as  it  appears  to  me,  could  not  have 
been  written  but  by  a  person  who  had  been  present  at  the  occurrences 
of  which  he  speaks ;  many  things,  which,  if  not  written  by  the  well- 
known  Sallust,  would  almost  oblige  me  to  believe  that  there  must  have 
been  two  Sallusts.  I  therefore  proceed  to  comment  upon  them  as  Sal- 
lust's  own  productions."  Burnouf. 

"  Those  who  have  denied  that  these  Epistles  are  Sallust's  have  rested 
their  negations  on  arguments  which  are  far  from  being  satisfactory.  Nor 
can  I  see  the  usual  penetration  of  Cortius  in  the  remarks  which  he  has 
made  on  these  compositions ;  for  in  saying  that  elegance  of  construction, 
judicious  connection,  and  what  he  calls  numerousness  of  style,  are  not 
to  be  found  in  them,  he  seems  to  me  to  be  totally  in  error.  To  assert 
that  the  whole  complexion  of  the  language  is  at  variance  with  the  dic- 
tion of  Sallust,  is  so  far  from  being  just,  that  we  may  rather  suppose  the 
author  to  have  collected  all  the  flowers  of  Sallust's  style,  with  a  view  to 
give  a  greater  air  of  genuineness  to  his  productions.  But  there  are 
other  considerations  which  show  that  these  Letters,  or  Orations,  as  some 
would  call  them,  are  forgeries.  Not  one  of  the  grammarians  has  cited 
them  ;  nor  is  the  name  of  Sallust  prefixed  to  them  in  the  Vatican  manu- 
script, which  I  have  carefully  collated.  They  are  added  to  the  orations 
and  epistles  extracted  from  the  History  of  Sallust,  but  the  writer  of  tho 
manuscript  appears  to  have  been  totally  ignorant  of  the  name  of  their 
author.  It  is  difficult,  too,  to  show  at  what  time,  or  with  what  inten- 
tion, such  epistles  could  have  been  written  to  Ca>sar  by  Sallust.  They 
seem,  indeed,  to  refer  to  the  end  of  Caesar's  lifetime,  when  he  was  en- 
deavoring to  settle  the  state  by  passing  new  laws,  and  when  Sallust 
was  proconsul  of  Numidia ;  for  1  can  hardly  suppose  that  Sallust  ad- 
dressed Caesar  by  letter  when  they  were  both  at  Rome.  But  there  are 
many  expressions  in  the  Epistles  which  show  that  they  can  not  be  as- 
,  signed  to  any  certain  period.  In  the  first  Epistle,  c.  ii.,  mention  is  made 
of  an  adverse  consul,  and  commentators  reasonably  supposed  that  this 
may  refer  to  Lentulus  (Comp.  Cses.,  B.C.,  i.  1,  2) ;  and  it  would  accord- 
ingly be  inferred  that  this  letter  was  written  soon  after  the  war  com- 
menced ;  but  in  c.  iv.,  tho  writer  speaks  of  Cato  and  Domitius  as  being 
dead;  Pompey  must  therefore  have  been  killed  before  the  time  to  which 
he  alludes ;  yet  in  c.  iii.  he  speaks  of  Pompey  as  being  still  alive  ;  and, 
to  surprise  tho  reader  still  more,  he  recurs,  in  c.  ix.,  to  Domitius  and 
Cato  again,  expatiating  on  their  abilities,  and  intimating  that  they  aro 


240  SALLUST. 

Btill  to  bo  feared.  This  confusion  of  timea  might  be  remedied  by  ex- 
punging the  fourth  section,  but  this  would  be  to  support  a  bad  cause  by 
an  unsatisfactory  mode  of  proceeding.  However,  if  we  grant  that  the 
/etters  were  written  at  the  particular  time  at  which  they  profess  to  have 
been  written,  it  is  further  to  be  considered  whether  the  subjects  of  them 
are  suitable  to  the  genius  of  Sallust,  and  to  the  friendship  which  sub- 
sisted between  him  and  Caesar.  In  the  second  letter  it  will  readily  be 
acknowledged  that  there  are  many  sentiments  worthy  of  Sallust ;  for 
the  writer  of  it  may  fairly  be  allowed  to  have  considerable  knowledge 
of  political  affairs.  But  however  acutely  he  reasons  on  the  general 
regulation  of  a  state,  the  letter,  unless  it  contains  admonitions  adapted 
either  to  establish  or  correct  the  condition  of  affairs  at  the  time  of 
Caesar,  ought  not  to  have  been  addressed  to  him. 

"  It  may  be  said  that  the  design  of  the  author  of  the  epistle  was  to 
admonish  Ctesar  to  use  his  victory  with  moderation,  and  not  to  listen  to 
the  sanguinary  suggestions  of  unprincipled  men.  But  what  men  he 
means,  I  can  not  understand.  Among  the  many  vices  imputed  to  Caesar, 
a  willingness  to  allow  himself  to  be  directed,  with  too  great  facility,  by 
the  counsels  of  others,  can  hardly  be  numbered;  and  he  exercised  his 
power  with  such  clemency  and  gentleness,  as  excited  the  admiration 
oven  of  his  enemies.  The  writer  of  the  letter,  indeed,  might  be  thought 
to  have  set  forth  his  counsels,  not  with  a  viow  to  the  benefit  of  others, 
but  to  relieve  some  uneasy  feeling  in  his  own  mind.  He  says  that  the 
license  of  expenditure  and  rapacity  is  to  be  restrained ;  that  the  usurers 
are  to  be  suppressed ;  that  the  honor  paid  to  money  should  be  diminish- 
ed, and  military  service  equalized.  Such  are  the  counsels  of  the  second 
letter;  and  among  them  are  intermingled  many  remarks  on  the  merits 
of  Caesar,  on  the  perverse  proceedings  of  the  opposite  faction,  and  on 
the  corrupt  morals  of  the  youth;  all  of  which  may  justly  be  regarded  as 
wholly  foreign  to  the  author's  subject.  But  if  we  allow  that  this  epistle 
was  written  by  Sallust  himself,  we  must  assuredly  admit  that  the  other 
(which  is  properly  put  first)  was  composed  by  some  declaimer,  as  a  mere 
exercise  of  the  intellect.  Some  things  are  expressed  in  both  letters  in 
nearly  the  same  words ;  as  in  the  first  section  of  each  epistle :  quod 
jprius  defessi,  etc. :  '  that  men  are  sooner  weary  of  praising  you,  than 
you  of  doing  things  worthy  of  praise.'  Other  things,  again,  are  totally 
at  variance  with  one  another ;  thus  Sylla,  in  the  second  epistle,  cap.  v., 
is  accused  of  cruelty ;  while  in  the  first,  cap.  iv.,  he  is  extolled  for  clem- 
ency. The  imitations,  also,  of  parts  of  the  introductions  to  the  Catiline 
and  Jugurtha  are  ridiculous ;  as  in  the  first  epistle,  cap.  i. :  Sed  mihi 
studium  fuit  adolescentulo,  etc. ;  and  cap.  x. :  Postquam  mihi  artes,  etc. 
The  seventh  chapter,  too,  is  extremely  similar  to  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  chapters  of  the  Catiline.  As  for  the  words,  and  figures  of  speech, 
copied  from  Sallust,  they  are  so  numerous  that  tho  reader  can  regard 
their  accumulation  only  as  the  work  of  a  jejune  declaimer :  thus,  in  tho 
first  epistle,  cap.  ix. :  Parantur  hcec  discipllna,  Grcecorwm,  etc.,  he  takes 
from  tho  Jugurtha,  c.  Ixxxv.,  the  expressions  of  contempt  for  Greek 
learning  which  Sallust  has  attributed  to  Marius,  and  reproduces  them  as 
the  sentiments  of  Sallust  himself,  not  reflecting  that  Sallust  was  a  groat 
reader  of  the  Greek  authors,  and  sought  water  for  his  own  brooks  iu  tho 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  CAESAR.  241 

•springs  of  Thucydides.  Compare  also  cap.  v.,  in  duas  paries,  etc.,  and 
Jugurtha,  c.  xli. 

"  But  to  say  nothing  more  of  such  imitations,  which  every  reader  may 
easily  find  for  himself,  what,  let  me  ask,  is  the  object  of  the  whole  of  the 
first  epistle  ?  The  modest  author  offers  advice  to  Ca?sar  about  the  reg- 
ulation of  the  state.  But  what  was  the  advice  which  he  thought  wor- 
thy of  being  the  subject  of  two  epistles  to  Cassar,  when  he  was  busied 
with  important  occupations?  He  assails  the  faction  of  the  nobles,  as  if 
it  had  not  been  at  all  humbled,  and  is  inspired  with  such  ardor  for  male- 
diction, that  he  decries  those  whom  ho  had  previously  extolled,  and 
heaps  reproaches  on  those,  as  living  men,  whom  he  had  before  repre- 
sented as  dead.  Compare  cap.  iv.  and  ix.  of  the  first  epistle.  He  ad- 
vises Caasar  to  add  to  the  number  of  citizens ;  but  many  new  citizens 
had  already  been  made ;  ho  thinks  that  the  eagerness  for  getting  money 
should  be  discouraged,  but  ho  had  spoken  at  greater  length  on  this  sub- 
ject in  the  other  epistle.  He  thinks  that  the  senate  should  be  augmented, 
but  C.-esar  had  before  admitted  into  it  a  number  of  the  worst  characters. 
He  is  persuaded  that  the  authority  of  the  senate  would  bo  greatly  in- 
creased, if  the  senators  should  vote  by  ballot,  but  ho  forgets  that  means 
would  thus  be  furnished  for  practicing  dishonesty ;  for  many  men  of 
weak  minds  are  restrained  from  immoral  dealings  only  by  a  false  am- 
bition, which  excites  in  them  a  desire  to  appear  good,  though  real  good- 
ness is  far  from  them ;  and  if  such  men  can  but  conceal  their  corrupt 
practices,  they  will  dare  any  thing  whatsoever.  But  the  writer's  want 
of  judgment  is  most  flagrantly  manifested  in  his  suggestions  to  Cassar  to 
restore  liberty  which  had  been  overthrown.  Can  it  be  supposed  that 
Sallust  was  so  ignorant  of  Caesar's  disposition,  and  of  the  state  of  public 
r, flairs,  as  to  offer  such  advice  ?  The  prosopopoeia,  too,  of  Rome,  utter- 
ing prayers  and  supplications,  as  she  appears  on  the  page  of  Cicero, 
militates  against  the  genuineness  of  the  epistles.  When  I  take  all  theso 
points  into  consideration,  I  am  so  far  from  believing  that  the  epistles  are 
Sallust's  that  I  can  not  even  suppose  them  to  bo  both  the  work  of  tho 
same  author.  We  might  rather  imagine  that  two  students  of  rhetoric, 
who  had  made  themselves  masters  of  the  striking  peculiarities  of  Sal- 
lust's  ornate  diction,  and  who  knew  that  Sallust  himself  was  a  friend  of 
Ciiisar,  and  an  opponent  of  the  aristocratic  party,  had  resolved  on  giving, 
in  theso  letters,  an  imitation  of  Sallust's  style  and  manner.  The  simi- 
larity of  the  subjects  of  tho  letters  throughout,  and  of  many  particular 
passages,  induces  me  to  believe  that  two  young  men,  who  were  under 
the  same  teacher  of  oratory,  had  engaged  in  a  contest  to  show  which  of 
them  had  made  the  greatest  progress  in  this  peculiar  study.  This 
opinion,  I  think,  might  be  more  fully  supported  by  a  more  minute  ex- 
amination and  comparison  of  particular  passages."  Gerlach. 

Theso  observations  of  Gerlach  are  rather  long ;  but,  as  they  may  bo 
regarded  as  decisively  settling  tho  question  respecting  the  authenticity 
and  genuineness  of  the  epistles,  I  have  thought  it  better  to  give  them 
in  full.  Kritzius,  who  is  no  friend  to  Geriach  in  general,  cordially 
agrees  with  him  in  opinion  on  this  point,  and  bestows  the  highest  praise 
on  h!s  remarks: 

"  The  epistles  to  C;esar,"  says  he,  "  on  the  regulation  of  the  state,  I 

11 


242  SALLUST. 

could  not  induce  myself  to  add  to  my  edition,  as  many  incontrovertible 
proofs  show  that  they  are  the  offspring  of  some  school  of  declamation, 
where  it  was  rashly  tried  whether  it  were  possible  to  represent  Sallust's 

force  of  mind  merely  by  copying  Sallust's  diction I 

had  intended  to  support  this  opinion  of  mine  by  arguments  of  some 
length,  but  the  execution  of  my  purpose  is  rendered  unnecessary 
by  the  diligence  and  industry  of  Gerlach,  who  has  examined  both 
of  the  epistles  with  so  much  penetration  and  soundness  of  judgment, 
and  shows,  with  so1  much  ability,  that  these  compositions,  attrib- 
uted to  the  most  eminent  of  Roman  historians,  are  certainly  spuri- 
ous, that  whoever,  after  considering  his  arguments,  can  still  believe 
them  genuine,  must  be  regarded  as  ready  to  believe  the  grossest  ab- 
surdities that  can  be  advanced Gerlach,  at  the  same 

time,  acutely  conjectures  that  both  are  not  the  production  of  the  same 
hand,  and  that  two  young  men,  in  some  school  of  rhetoric,  may  have 
agreed  to  write,  on  the  same  subject,  a  couple  of  essays  to  show  how 
far  each  had  mastered  the  style  and  matter  of  Sallust.  Than  this  con- 
jecture I  can  conceive  nothing  more  probable." — See  the  Life  of  Sallust 
prefixed  to  this  translation. 


EPISTLE  I. 

I.  I  AM  aware  how  difficult  and  hazardous  an  undertaking 
it  is  to  offer  advice  to  a  prince  or  a  governor,  or  to  any  person- 
age invested  with  supreme  power;  for  they  have  abundance 
of  counselors  already  about  them ;  nor  has  any  man  sufficient 
sagacity,  or  sufficient  knowledge  of  futurity,  for  the  task. 
Bad  counsels,  too,  often  succeed  even  better  than  good ;  since 
Fortune  directs  most  affairs  according  to  her  own  pleasure. 

But  I,  in  my  youth,1  had  a  strong  desire  to  be  employed  in 
affairs  of  government,  and  spent  much  time  and  labor  in  the 
study  of  them ;  not  merely  with  a  view  to  the  attainment  of 
office,  which  many  have  reached  by  dishonorable  means,  but 
with  a  desire  to  understand  the  conduct  of  affairs  in  peace  and 
war,  and  the  strength  of  the  republic  with  regard  to  arms,  men, 
and  resources.  After  much  deliberation,  therefore,  I  resolved 
to  think  less  of  my  character  and  modesty  than  of  your  honor, 
and  to  incur  any  hazard  for  the  sake  of  advancing  your  glory. 
This  determination  I  formed,  not  from  any  rash  impulse,2  or 

1  I.  But  I,  in  my  youth,  etc.]  Compare  Cat.,  c.  iii. 

a  Not  from  any  rash  impulse]  Nan  temere.  Doubtless  not ;  for  the  pre- 
ceding sentence  says  thut  the  resolution  was  formed  by  liim  multa  cum 
ziwmo  afjitinti*  "  after  much  deliberation." 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  CAESAR.  243 

from  respect  to  your  fortune,  but  because  I  have  observed  in 
your  character  one  quality  worthy  of  admiration  above  the  rest, 
a  greatness  of  mind  which  is  more  conspicuous  in  adverse  than 
in  prosperous  circumstances.  But  your  merit  in  this  respect  is 
sufficiently  declared  by  others ;  as  men  were  sooner  weary  of 
praising  and  admiring  your  greatness,3  than  you  are  of  perform- 
ing what  is  worthy  of  celebration. 

II.  I  am,  indeed,  of  opinion,  that  nothing  so  arduous  can  be 
proposed,  that  it  will  not  be  easy  to  you  if  your  mind  be  applied 
to  it.  Nor  have  I  addressed  to  you  my  thoughts  on  the  state, 
with  the  hope  of  hearing  my  prudence  or  ability  unduly  com- 
mended, but  with  a  wish  to  call  your  attention,  amid  the 
labors  of  war,*  amid  battles,  victories,  and  the  cares  of  com- 
mand, to  the  concerns  of  the  city.  For  if  you  have  no  other 
aim  than  to  take  revenge  on  your  enemies  for  their  attacks,5  and 
to  retain  the  favors  of  the  people6  against  an  adverse  consul,"' 
you  are  far  from  meditating  what  is  worthy  of  your  ability. 
But  if  that  spirit  still  remains  in  you,  which,  from  the  first,  dis- 
concerted the  faction  of  the  nobility,8  and  raised  the  Roman 
people  from  oppressive  slavery  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  liberty ; 

'  Your  greatness]  Munificentiamtuam.  Cortius  proposes  magnifcxntiam, 
which  the  sense  seems  to  require. 

4  II.  Labors  of  war]  Labores  militia.  Those  who  have  imagined  this 
epistle  to  be  genuine,  consider  it  to  have  been  written  A.C.C.  704,  when 
Marcellus  and  Lentulus  were  consuls,  and  when  Caesar  was  with  the  army 
in  Gaul. 


any  one."  Gordon.  Not  always.  But  there  are  examples  of  this  signifi- 
cation. See  Sen.  Benef.,  vi.  o.  Vindicates  ab  injuriis  inagistratuum  pro- 
vincia,  Veil.  Fatt.,  ii.  12t>. 

8  Favors  of  the  people]  Beneficia  populi.  "Alluding  to  prolonged  com- 
mand of  the  army,  and  the  privilege  of  being  a  candidate  for  the  consul- 
ship in  his  absence."  Burnouf. 

7  An  adverse  consul]  Adversum  consulem.  "  He  means  Lentulus.  See 
Cffis.,  B.C.,  i.  1,  2."  Cortius.  Most  other  commentators  agree  with  him. 

"  Which,  from  the  first,  disconcerted  the  faction  of  the  nobility]  Qui 
jam  a  pnncipio  nobttitatis  factionem  disturbavit.  "  This  may  refer  to  what 
Suetonius  says  in  his  Life  of  Caesar,  c.  v. :  '  After  he  was  made  a  military 
tribune,  ....  he  vigorously  supported  the  advocates  for  restoring 
thetnbunitial  authority,  which  had  been  very  much  reduced  by  Sylla;'  and 
c.  xi. :  '  He  engaged  a" part  of  the  tribunes,  in  a  design  to  procure  for  him 
the  province  of  Egypt  by  a  vote  of  the  people,  ....  out  he  could  not 
curry  his  point,  from  the  opposition  made  by  the  nobility.  In  order,  there- 
fore, to  lessen  their  authority  by  all  the  means  in  his  power,  he  again  set  up 
the  trophies  erected  in  honor  of  Cains  Marius,  on  account  of  his  conquest 
of  Jugiirthn,  and  of  the  Cimbri  and  Teutonics,  which  had  formerly  been  de- 
molished by  Sylla.'  "  Huriwvf. 


244  SALLUST. 

which,  in  your  praetorship,  baffled,  without  arms,9  the  army  of 
your  adversaries ;  and  which  has  achieved  such  eminent  and 
illustrious  actions,  both  at  home  and  in  the  fieLl,  that  not  even 
your  detractors  complain  of  any  thing  but  your  greatness,  accept 
the  suggestions  which  I  offer  to  you  concerning  the  government 
of  the  state,  and  which  you  will  find,  I  trust,10  either  consonant 
with  propriety,  or  not  greatly  at  variance  with  it. 

III.  Since  Pompey,  either  from  deficiency  of  judgment,  or 
from  perversely  preferring  what  was  to  his  own  injury,"  has 
committed  such  an  error  as  to  put  arms  into  the  hands  of 
his  enemies,"  it  must  be  your  part  to  settle  the  state  in  those 
particulars13  in  which  he  has  disordered  it.  First  of  all,  he 
gave  to  a  few  senators  unlimited  authority  with  regard  to  the 
revenues,  disbursements,  and  judicial  proceeding's,  but  left  the 
Roman  commonalty,  who  had  the  supreme  power  before,  in  a 
state  of  slavery  under  laws  which  were  not  even  equal  for  all. 
Though  the  judicial  power  has  been  appointed  to  the  three 
orders,14  as  before,  yet  the  same  faction  still  governs,  giving 

9  Baffled,  without  arms,  etc.]  In  prcetura  armis  inimicorum  inermis  dis- 
jecit.  Burnouf  refers  to  Suetonius,  J.  Cttsar,  c.  xvi. :  "lie  likewise  stood 
very  resolutely  by  Ctecilius  Metellus,  tribune  of  the  commons,  in  his  pre- 
ferring some  very  seditious  bill  to  tbe  people,  in  spite  of  all  opposition  from 
his  colleagues,  till  they  were  both  by  a  vote  of  the  house  displaced.  IIo 
ventured,  notwithstanding,  to  continue  in  his  office  of  administering  jus- 
tice ;  but  finding  some  prepared  to  hinder  him  by  force  of  arms,  he  dis- 
missed his  officers,  threw  off  his  gown,  and  got  privately  home,  with  a 
resolution  to  be  quiet,  since  the  times  ran  so  strong  against  him.  Ho  like- 
wise pacified  the  mob,  that  in  two  days  after  gathered  about  him,  and  in  a 
riotous  manner  offered  him  their  assistance  for  the  vindication  of  his  honor. 
"Which  happening  contrary  to  expectation,  the  senate,  who  had  met  in  all 
haste  upon  occasion  of  this  tumult,  gave  him  their  thanks  by  some  of  the 
leading  members  of  the  house,  sent  for  him,  and  after  they  had  highly 
commended  his  behavior,  canceled  their  former  vote,  and  restored  him  to 
his  place."  Clarke's  Translation. 

»°  I  trust]  Profeeto, 

11  III.  Preferring  what  was  to  his  own  injury]  Quia  nihil  malutt  quam 
quod  sibi  obesset.  tiibi  is  the  reading  of  Cortius  ;  Havercamp's,  and  several 
other  editions,  have  tibi,  which,  indeed,  seems  to  suit  better  with  the  animi 
gravitate  which  precedes.  The  sense  will  then  bo,  "  that  Pompey  acted 
either  from  want  of  judgment,  or  from  a  desire  to  oppose  Caesar."  Cortius' s 
note  on  sibi  obesset  is,  "  The  writer  refers  to  that  obstinacy  of  Pompey,  with 
which  ho  rejected  all  terms  of  peace  and  concord,  when  Ciusar  was  inclined 
to  settle  matters  amicably." 

13  To  put  arms  into  tlio  hands  of  his  enemies]  Ut  Itostibus  tela  in  manus 
jaceret.  "  Compelling  his  enemies  to  take  up  arms."  Cortius.  But  the  ex- 
pression may  be  figurative. 

13  hi  those  particulars,  etc.]   Quibus  itte  rebus  rempublicam  conturbavit, 
eisdem  tibi  restituendum  est.     "  Les  points  de  droit  public  qu'il  a  renvcrses, 
sont  ceux  quo  vous  avez  d'abord  a.  rcdrc.sscr."     De  Jirosses. 

14  To  the  three  orders]  Tribus  ordinibus.     By  a  law  of  L.  Aurclius  Cotta, 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  CAESAR.  2  la 

and  taking  away  as  they  please ;  oppressing  the  innocent,  ;.n<l 
raising  their  partisans  to  honor  ;  while  no  wickedness,  no  dis- 
honesty or  disgrace,  is  a  bar  to  the  attainment  of  office  ;  what- 
ever appears  desirable,  they  seize  and  render  their  own,  and 
make  their  will  and  pleasure  their  law,  as  arbitrarily  as  victors 
in  a  conquered  city.  I  should  l>e,  comparatively,  but  little  con- 
cerned, if  the  superiority  which  they  exercise,  according  to  their 
custom,  for  the  enslaving  of  others,15  had  been  obtained  by 
their  own  merit ;  but  they  are  the  basest  of  mankind,  whose 
magnanimity  and  virtue  lie  wholly  in  their  tongue,  and  who 
abuse  with  insolence  an  ascendency  conceded  to  them  only  by 
chance  and  the  supineness  of  others.  For  what  sedition,  or 
civil  dissension,  has  ever  ruined  so  many  illustrious  families  ? 
Or  whose  violence,  even  in  the  moment  of  victory,  has  ever 
been  so  headstrong  and  immoderate  ? 

IV.  Sylla,  to  whom  the  utmost  license  was  granted  by  the 
law  of  war,  and  who  was  conscious  that  his  party  would  be 
strengthened  by  cutting  off  his  enemies,  yet,  after  putting  to 
death  a  few,  sought  to  secure  the  rest  rather  by  kindness  than 
by  terror.  But,  at  the  present  period,  not  only  Cato,  Lucius 
Domitius,16  and  others  of  that  party,  but  forty  senators,  and 
many  young  men  of  excellent  promise,  have  been  slaughtered 
like  victims  for  sacrifice  ;  and  yet  this  merciless  baud  of  men, 
after  shedding  the  blood  of  so  many  miserable  citizens,  could 
not  by  any  means  feel  satisfied ;  neither  fatherless  children, 
nor  aged  parents,  neither  the  groans  of  men,  nor  the  wai lings? 
of  women,  could  affect  their  unrelenting  hearts  ;  but  they  pro- 
ceeded daily  with  increased  bitterness,  both  in  their  deeds  and 

x.r.c.  684,  the  right  of  being  judices  was  given  to  the  senators,  equites,  and 
tribuni  ararii. 

-5  Of  others]  Atteriw.    The  singular  for  the  plural. 

14  IV.  Not  only  Cato,  Lucius  Domitius,  etc.]  At  hercle  nunc  cum  Catotie, 
L. Dontit'w,  c&terisque  ejusdemfactioiiis,  quadraqinta  senatores — mactati  sunt. 
I  have  given  the  exact  sense  of  the  passage  as  it  stands  m  Cortius  and  Bur- 
nouf.  But  the  text  can  not  be  correct,  unless  we  suppose  that  some  other 
Cato  and  Domitius  are  meant  than  those  mentioned  m  c.  ix. ;  for  the  writer 
would  hardly  have  forgotten  himself  so  far  as  to  speak  of  the  same  men  as 
both  dead  and  alive  within  so  short  a  space ;  though  Gerlach  thinks  eveu 
thi^possible ;  see  his  remarks  prefixed.  De  Brosses  tacitly  translates  the 
passage  as  if  it  were  nunc  a  Catone,  etc. :  "  Aujourd'hui  un  Caton,  un  Do- 
mitius, et  les  autres  de  cette  faction,  ont  fait  massacrer  comme  des  victimes 
quaraute  senateurs,"  etc. :  and  Cooke  and  Eowe  render  the  passage  in  a 
similar  way.  The  Abbe  Thyvon  proposes  to  read  Carbune,  a  name  joined 
with  that  of  Domitius  in  the  second  Epistle ;  and  he  may  be  right ;  but  tt» 
correct  compositions  of  no  authority  is  only  waste  of  time. 


246  SALLUST. 

their  words,  degrading  some  from  their  rank,  and  expelling1 
others  from  their  country.  Need  I  make  any  allusion  to  your- 
self, whose  humiliation  these  basest  of  men  would  purchase 
even  with  their  lives  ?  Their  own  power,  indeed,  though  it  fall 
into  their  hands  unexpectedly,  produces  them  less  pleasure  than 
your  elevation  causes  pain  ;  and  they  would  rather  bring  liberty 
into  danger  by  your  downfall,  than  see  the  Roman  empire 
raised  by  your  efforts  to  the  highest  pitch  of  greatness.  It  is 
the  more  incumbent  on  you,  therefore,  to  consider,  again  and 
again,  how  you  may  establish  and  secure  the  state.  For  my- 
self, I  shall  not  hesitate  to  express  what  arises  in  my  mind  ;  but 
it  will  be  for  your  judgment  to  decide  how  far  my  suggestions 
are  consistent  with  reason  and  worthy  of  adoption. 

V.  I  regard  the  state  as  divided,  according  to  the  notion 
that  I  have  received  of  it  from  our  ancestors,  into  two  parts, 
the  patricians  and  the  plebeians."  The  supreme  authority 
was  originally  in  the  hands  of  the  patricians,  but  the  plebeians 
had  always  by  far  the  greater  power.  On  several  occasions,  in 
consequence,  a  secession  took  place ;  and  the  power  of  the 
nobility  was  from  time  to  time  diminished,  and  the  privileges 
of  the  people  augmented.  But  the  liberty  of  the  commons 
chiefly  lay  in  this,  that  no  man's  power  was  above  that  of  the 
laws ;  the  nobleman  outshone  the  plebeian,  not  in  wealth  or 
ostentatiousness,  but  in  high  character  and  honorable  deeds  ; 
the  meanest  citizen,  whether  engaged  in  agriculture  or  war, 
wanted  nothing  that  was  proper  for  his  condition,  nor  was 
wanting  to  himself  or  to  his  country.  But  when  the  people 
were  gradually  deprived  of  their  lands,18  and  idleness  and  want 
left  them  without  settled  habitations,  they  began  to  covet  other 
men's  property,  and  to  regard  their  liberty,  and  the  interests 
of  their  country,  as  objects  for  sale.  That  people,  accordingly, 
which  had  been  as  a  sovereign,  and  had  governed  all  nations, 
became  gradually  degenerate;  and,  instead  of  maintaining 
their  common  dominion,  brought  on  themselves  individual 
servitude.  Such  a  multitude,  therefore,  not  only  infected  with 
vicious  principles,  but  distracted  by  different  pursuits  ami 
modes  of  life,  and  without  any  true  principle  of  cohesion,«np- 
pears  to  me  by  no  means  fit  to  have  the  government  of  the 

"  Tho  patricians  and  the  plebeians]  Patres^  etplebem.     By  patret  he  docs 
not  mean  merely  the  senate,  but  all  the  nobility. 

'"  Deprived  of  their  lands]  See  Jug.,  c.  xli.,  and  the  6th  Fragment. 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  (LESAR.  247 

state.  But,  if  a  number  of  new  citizens  be  added  to  the  old, 
I  should  have  great  hope  that  they  would  all  be  roused  to  a 
sense  of  liberty ;  for  the  new  will  be  anxious  to  preserve  their 
freedom,  and  the  old  to  shake  off  their  slavery.  These  new 
citizens,  united  with  some  of  the  old  ones,  you  should,  I  think, 
settle  in  colonies ;  by  which  means  the  army  will  be  better 
supplied,19  and  the  lower  order  of  people,  being  engaged  in  use- 
ful occupations,  will  no  longer  think  of  raising  public  dis- 
turbances. 

VI.  I  am  not  ignorant  or  unaware  how  great  a  fury  and 
storm,  if  such  a  scheme  be  adopted,  will  arise  on  the  part 
of  the  nobility,  who  will  cry  out,  with  indignation,  that  the 
foundation  of  the  constitution  is  undermined  ;  that  the  yoke 
of  slavery20  is  imposed  on  the  old  citizens ;  and  that,  if  so  vast 
a  number  be  added  by  the  appointment  of  an  individual,  the 
republic  will  be  converted  from  a  free  state  into  a  monarchy. 
My  own  opinion,  upon  any  such  matter,  is  this  :  that  though 
he  is  guilty  of  a  crime  who  seeks  popularity  at  the  expense 
of  the  commonwealth,  yet  that  when  a  benefit  to  the  public  is 
also  an  advantage  to  the  individual  conferring  it,  to  hesitate  to 
bestow  it  is  to  incur  the  charge  of  irresolution  and  pusillan- 
imity. Marcus  Livius  Drusus,2'  when  he  was  tribune  of  the 
people,  made  it  his  aim  to  support,  with  his  utmost  efforts,  the 
interests  of  the  nobility ;  nor  did  he  intend,  at  the  first,  to 
carry  any  measures  but  such  as  they  should  sanction.  But 

i'  Army — better  supplied]  Res  militaris  opulentior  erit.  Somewhat  ob- 
scure. "  If  the  body  of  citizens  were  increased,  and  colonists  taken  from 
the  proletarii,  levies  of  troops  would  be  made  from  a  larger  number." 
Burrwiif. 

ao  VI.  Yoke  of  slavery]  Sermtutem.  "They  will  think  that  to  adopt  so 
many  new  citizens  will  be  to  oppress  the  old."  Burnouf. 

21  'Marcus  Livius  Drusus]  "  Marcus  Livius  Drusus  was  a  man  of  noble 
birth,  of  great  eloquence,  and  of  unblemished  character,  but  was  distin- 
guished, in  all  his  undertakings,  more  by  ability  than  success.  In  his 
tribunate,  he  wished  to  restore  to  the  senate  its  former  honors,  and  to  trans- 
fer the  judicial  power  from  the  knights  to  the  senators,  but  found  the  senate 
adverse  to  him  in  those  very  matters  which  he  projected  for  its  benefit,  not 
understanding  that  what  he  proposed,  at  the  same  time,  for  the  advantage 
of  the  plebeians,  was  proposed  only  for  the  sake  of  inducing  them,  on  re- 
ceiving small  gratifications,  to  concede  greater  to  others.  Being  thus  un- 
successful, he  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  extension  of  the  civic  franchise  to 
the  whole  of  the  inhabitants  of  Italy.  But  in  the  course  of  his  proceedings, 
as  he  was  returning  from  the  forum,  surrounded  by  that  strange  and  in- 
numerable multitude  which  always  attended  him,  he  was  stabbed  with  a 
knife  in  the  hall  of  his  owh  house,  and  died  in  a  few  hours."  Veil.  Pat.,  ii. 
13.  See  also  Flor.,  hi.  17. 


248  SALLUST. 

a  faction,  to  whom  treachery  and  dishonesty  were  dearer  than 
honor,  perceiving  that  a  vast  obligation™  was  to  be  conferred 
by  one  man  upon  many,  and  each  knowing  himself  to  be  un- 
principled and  faithless,  judged  the  character  of  Drusus  by 
their  own,  and,  suspecting  that  he  might  make  himself  sover- 
.  fign  by  the  favors  he  meant  to  bestow,  formed  a  league  against 
him,  and  overthrew  both  their  own  schemes  and  his.23  From 
this  example,  general,  you  will  see  that  you  must  secure  for 
yourself,  with  greater  care  than  Druses,  many  faithful  friends34 
and  supporters. 

VII.  To  repel  an  open  enemy  is,  to  a  man  of  courage,  a 
task  of  no  great  difficulty  ;  to  work  secret  mischief,  or  to  guard 
against  it,  enters  not  into  the  character  of  a  man  of  honor. 

Since,  when  you  have  introduced  these  additional  citizens, 
the  commons  will  be  re-established,  you  must  then  make  it 
your  chief  concern  that  good  morals  may  be  cultivated,  and 
that  concord  may  be  secured  between  the  old  citizens  and  the 
new.  But  the  greatest  service  that  you  can  confer  on  your 
country,  your  fellow-citizens,  yourself,  your  posterity,  and,  in- 
deed, on  the  whole  human  race,  will  be  to  extirpate,  or  at  least 
to  diminish  as  far  as  circumstances  will  permit,  the  excessive 
love  of  money ;  otherwise  neither  public  nor  private  affairs, 
neither  matters  of  peace  nor  of  war,  can  be  properly  conduct- 
ed ;  for  when  the  passion  for  wealth  has  become  prevalent, 
neither  morals  nor  talents  are  proof  against  it,  but  every  mind, 
sooner  or  later,  yields  to  its  influence.  I  have  often  heard  of 
kings,  and  states,  and  nations,  who  have  lost,  in  the  height  of 
opulence,  vast  power  which  they  had  gained  in  days  of  poverty 
and  virtue.  Nor  is  this  at  all  a  matter  of  wonder  ;  for  when  a 
man  of  worth  sees  another,  who  is  far  his  inferior,  more  dis- 
tinguished and  caressed  on  account  of  his  wealth,  he  is  at  first 
indignant,  and  greatly  perplexed  in  his  thoughts  ;  but  when  he 
finds  that  pomp,  day  after  day,  gains  fresh  triumphs  over  true 

M  A  vast  obligation]  Maximum  berieficiiim.  The  civic  franchise. 
\  23  Both  their  own  schemes  and  his]  Sua  et  ipsius  consilia.  This  is  the 
reading  of  Cortius  and  Burnouf.  Havercamp  and  others  have  sua  ipsiue, 
which,  though  indefensible  Latin  for  ejus  ip#ius,  make*  better  sense ;  for 
what  schemes  of  the  nobility  are  meant,  or  why  any  allusion  is  made  to 
them,  is  not  apparent. 

a*  With  greater  care — many  faithful  friends,  etc.  ]  Mujore  euro,  jideque 
amici  et  multa  prcesidia  paranda  sunt.  "'Fide  is  vox  iwJiili;  for  what  is  ma- 
jore  fide  qu&rere  ?  But  the  wnter  seems  to  have  referred  curd  to  qucerere, 
mid  fide  to  amici,  as  if  exhorting  Caesar  to  seek  amicvs  majors  fide.'1'1 
Cortius. 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  CvESAR.  249 

honor,  and  riches  over  merit,  his  mind  at  length  revolts  from 
virtue  to  pleasure.  Virtuous  exertion  is  fostered  by  the  honor 
attendant  on  it ;  but  if  the  honor  be  withheld,  the  struggles  of 
virtue  become  but  unpleasing  and  unsatisfactory.  Wherever 
wealth  is  held  in  esteem,  all  praiseworthy  qualities,  as  integrity, 
probity,  moderation,  and  temperance,  are  despised.  For  to 
honest  eminence  there  is  but  one  path,  and  that  a  difficult  one ; 
but  wealth  every  man  pursues  in  his  own  way,  and  it  is  ac- 
quired as  successfully  by  disreputable  as  by  honorable  means. 
Let  it  be  your  first  care,  therefore,  to  diminish  the  influence  of 
money ;  let  no  one  be  thought  more  or  less  qualified,  on  ac- 
count of  his  wealth,  to  pronounce  judgment  on  the  lives  or 
characters  of  his  fellow-citizens ;  nor  let  any  one  be  chosen 
praetor  or  consul  from  regard  to  fortune,  but  to  merit.  In  the 
choice  of  magistrates,  however,  let  the  judgment  of  the  people 
be  uncontrolled.  As  to  judges,25  to  have  them  elected  by  a 
few,  is  to  establish  a  despotism  ;  to  make  their  appointment 
dependent  on  money,  is  a  disgrace  to  the  nation.  I  would, 
therefore,  consider  all  of  the  first  class28  qualified  for  the 
judicature,  but  would  have  the  number  of  judges  greater  than 
it  is  at  present.  Neither  the  Rhodians,  nor  any  other  people, 
where  rich  and  poor,  as  the  lot  fell  to  each,  decided  indis- 
criminately on  the  greatest  and  smallest  matters,  were  ever 
dissatisfied  with  their  tribunals.  But  as  to  the  election  of 
magistrates,  I  am  very  well  content  with  the  law  which  Caius 
Gracchus  proposed  to  his  tribuneship,  that  out  of  the  five 
classes  promiscuously,  the  centuries  should  be  taken  by  lot  to 
give  their  votes.  Thus  all  being  made  equal  in  political  influ- 
ence, whatever  be  their  wealth,27  their  care  will  be  to  surpass 
one  another  in  real  merit. 

24  As  to  judges,  etc.]  Judices.  Tbejudices  of  the  Romans  rather  resem- 
bled our  jurymen  than  judges.  "  The  number  of  ihejudtces  was  different 
at  different  times.  By  the  law  of  Gracchus,  300;  of  Servihus,  450;  of 
Drusus,  600;  of  Plautius,  525;  of  Syllw  and  Cotta,  300.  as  it  is  thought 
from  Cic.  Fain.,  vni.  8 ;  of  Pompey,  360,  Paterc.,  ii.  76  Under  the  emperor, 
the  number  of  jud/ices  was  greatly  increased,  Plin.,  xxxiii.  1."  Adam's 
Rom.  Ant.,  p.  236.  These  were  the  numbers  out  of  which  \\iQjudices  for 
any  trial  might  be  chosen.  "  The  Lex  Serviliu-  enacted  that  i\\e,judices  should 
not  be  under  thirty,  nor  above  sixty,  years  of  age ;  that  the  accuser  and  ac- 
cused should  severally  propose  one  hundred  judices,  and  that  each  might 
reject  fifty  from  the  list  of  the  other ;  so  that  one  hundred  would  remain 
for  the  trial."  Dr.  Smith's  Diet.,  Art.  Judex. 

»•  The  first  class]  See  Jug.,  c.  Ixxxvi. 

2T  Made  equal  in  political  influence,  whatever  be  their  wealth]  Cocequati 
dianitale,  pecunid.  "The  conjunctions  being  omitted,  according  to  the 

11* 


L-50  SALLUST. 

VIIT.  These  are  the  great  remedies  which  I  propose  against 
the  influence  of  money.  For  every  thing  is  praised  aud  covet- 
ed according  to  the  advantages  attendant  on  it.  Vice  is  insti- 
gated to  action  by  the  prospect  of  gain  ;  and,  when  this  in- 
ducement is  removed,  no  man  on  earth  is  gratuitously  wicked. 
Avarice,  indeed,  is  ravenous  and  insatiable  as  a  beast  of  pr.'v  ; 
wherever  it  spreads  its  influence,  it  devastates  alike  the  city 
and  the  country,  the  temple  and  the  dwelling-house,  and 
tramples  on  all  obligations  human  and  divine;  neither  aimie.s 
nor  fortifications  can  resist  its  pervading  influence;  it  despoils 
men  of  character  and  reputation,  of  children,  country,  and 
parents.  Yet,  if  the  honor  paid  to  wealth  be  diminished,  tlie 
vast  influence  even  of  avarice  might  be  subdued  by  the  encour- 
agement of  virtuous  habits.  But  though  all,  whether  good  or 
bad,  will  acknowledge  that  such  is  likely  to  be  the  case,  you 
will  yet  have  to  encounter  violent  opposition  from  the  factious 
spirit  of  the  nobility.  If  you  but  counteract  their  intrigues, 
however,  all  that  remains  will  be  accomplished  with  ease. 
The  nobility,  it  is  certain,  if  they  could  maintain  their  as- 
cendency by  honorable  means,  would  rather  emulate  the  vir- 
tuous than  envy  them  ;  but  as  sloth,  indolence,  dullness,  and 
stupidity,  have  taken  possession  of  them,  they  have  recourse  to 
slander  and  detraction,  regarding  the  fame  of  another  as  infamy 
to  themselves. 

IX.  But  why  should  I  say  more  of  their  characters,  as  if 
they  were  unknown  to  you  ?  What  energy,  or  intellectual 
power,  Marcus  Bibulus28  possesses,  has  been  shown  in  his  con- 
sulship ;  a  man  slow  in  speech,  and,  however  deceitful  at  heart, 
still  more  corrupt.  What  would  he  venture  to  do,  whose  con- 
sulship, the  highest  of  offices,  was  a  supreme  dishonor  ?  Is 
there  much  power  in  Lucius  Domitius,29  whose  every  member 
is  infected  with  turpitude  and  vice,  whose  tongue  is  boastful, 
whose  hands  are  stained  with  blood,  whose  feet  are  those  of  a 
coward ;  while  the  parts  of  him  which  can  not  decently  be 

practice  of  Sallust.  Yet  coaguati,  non  pecunid,  sed  dignitate,  would  bo  bet- 
ter. Perhaps  the  writer  himself  omitted  sect,  and  this  omission  might 
have  afterward  led  to  that  of  now."  Cortius.  This  conjecture  is  not  very 
probable. 

M  IX.  Marcus  BibulusJ  "  M.  Calpurniua  Bibulus  was  consul  with  Julius 
Caesar,  A.U.C.  695."  Burnmtf. 

*»  Lucius  Domitius]  "  L.  Domitius  Ahenobarbus  was  consul  A.U.C.  700. 
He  was  opposed  to  Caesar  in  the  civil  war,  and  died  on  the  field  of  Pharsalia  '' 
JSurnouf, 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  CvESAR.  251 

named,  are  indecency  itself.  One  of  the  party  indeed,  Marcus 
Cato,30  I  do  not  despise,  as  he  has  talent  for  artifice,  eloquence, 
aad  prudent  management ;  qualities  which  are  attained  in  the 
school  of  the  Greeks;  but  among  the  Greeks  are  not  to  bo 
found  fortitude,  vigilance,  or  industry ;  and  since,  through 
their  want  of  spirit,  they  have  lost  their  liberty  at  home,  is  it 
possible  to  imagine  that  an  empire  can  be  sustained  by  their 
precepts  ?  The  rest  are  the  dullest  of  the  nobility,  who,  like 
statues,  add  nothing  to  their  party  but  their  names.  Such 
persons  as  Lucius  Posthumius  and  Marcus  Favonius5'  seem  to 
me  like  additional  lading  in  a  large  vessel,  beyond  its  ordinary 
freight ;  lading  which,  if  the  crew  arrive  safe,  may  be  turned 
to  account,  but  which  if  a  storm  arises,  is  the  first  thing  to  be 
thrown  overboard,  as  being  of  the  least  value. 

X.  Having  now  said  sufficient,  as  I  tJiink,  concerning  the 
restoration  and  improvement  of  the  commons,  I  shall  next  sug- 
gest to  you  what  is  to  be  done  in  relation  to  the  senate. 

Ever  since  I  came  to  maturity  of  years  and  understanding, 
I  have  exercised  myself  but  little  with  arms  and  horses,  but 
have  applied  my  mind  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge ;  that 
part  of  me  which  was  naturally  the  stronger,  I  cultivated  with 
the  greater  diligence.  And  by  much  reading  and  attention 
during  the  course  of  my  life,  I  have  learned  that  every  king- 
dom, state,  and  nation,  has  maintained  a  prosperous  govern- 
ment as  long  as  wise  counsels  prevailed  in  it;  but  that  when 
interest,  timidity,  or  pleasure,  vitiated  its  measures,  its  power 
was  soon  diminished,  its  authority  lost,  and  the  yoke  of  slavery 
at  last  imposed  upon  it.  I  have  also  seen  good  reason  to  be- 
lieve, that  whoever  has  a  higher  station,  and  more  exalted 
honor  in  a  state,  than  those  around  him,  feels  more  interest  in 
its  welfare.  Others,  by  upholding  the  government,  preserve 
only  their  liberty  ;  but  he  who  by  merit  has  gained  wealth,  re- 
spect, or  honor,  finds  himself,  if  the  state  show  the  least  symp- 

3n  Cato]  These  strictures  on  Cato  can  hardly  have  proceeded  from  ih« 
same  hand  that  wrote  his  character  in  the  conspiracy  of  Catiline.  "But 
Sallust,"  says  Burnouf,  "wrote  that  character  of  Cato  after  his  death,  and 
therefore  with  greater  indulgence." 

31  Lucius  Posthuinius  and  Marcus  Favonius]  "  Who  L.  Posthnmius  was 
is  uncertain.  M.  Fuvonius  was  a  man  ot  upright  character,  and  not  without 
prudence  or  fortitude ;  he  was  a  great  admirer  and  imitator  of  Cato,  whoso 

dress  he  even  copied He  was  taken  prisoner  m  the  battle  ot 

Philippi,  and  soon  afterward  put  to  death.  Plut.  in  Brut,  et  Pomp.,  Dion., 
xxxix.  xl.  xlvii."  BurnovJ. 


252  SALLUST. 

toms  of  decline,  disquieted  with  numberless  cares  and  anxieties ; 
he  thinks  of  defending  his  rank,  his  liberty,  or  his  property  ;  he 
becomes  vigilant  and  active  ;32  and  the  higher  he  rose  in  pros- 
perity, the  greater  is  his  trouble  and  anxiety  at  the  prospect 
of  adversity. 

Since,  then,  the  commonalty  are  subservient  to  the  senate, 
as  the  body  to  the  mind,  and  act  according  to  its  directions,  the 
senators  should  be  distinguished  for  their  wisdom ;  in  the  peo- 
ple much  understanding  may  not  be  requisite.  With  this 
conviction,  our  ancestors,  even  when  they  suffered  from  the 
most  disastrous  wars,  and  had  lost  horses,  troops,  and  money, 
never  ceased  to  maintain  the  contest  for  empire ;  neither  the 
exhaustion  of  the  treasury,  the  successes  of  the  enemy,  nor  the 
frowns  of  fortune,  could  subdue  their  firm  resolution  to  pre- 
serve to  their  last  breath  what  their  valor  had  acquired  ;  and 
their  ultimate  successes  were  secured  rather  by  able  counsels 
than  by  fortunate  battles.  In  their  days,  indeed,  the  republic 
was  united  ;  all  consulted  for  its  interests ;  combinations  were 
formed  only  against  enemies ;  and  every  individual  exerted 
himself,  both  in  body  and  mind,  not  for  his  own  aggrandize- 
ment, but  for  the  welfare  of  his  country.  But  in  these  times, 
on  the  contrary,  a  few  nobles,  whose  minds  timidity  and  indo- 
lence have  possessed,  unacquainted  with  toil,  with  an  enemy, 
or  with  any  kind  of  warfare,  but  leagued  in  a  party  at  home, 
arrogantly  usurp  authority  over  the  world ;  while  the  senate, 
by  whose  counsels  the  state,  when  in  difficulty,  was  formerly 
supported,  is  overawed,  and  fluctuates  hither  and  thither  at  the 
pleasure  of  others,  decreeing  sometimes  one  thing  and  some- 
times another,  and  deciding  what  is  good  or  evil  for  the  pub- 
lic, acoording  to  the  animosity  or  presumption  of  those  who 
rule  the  hour. 

XL  But  if  all  had  equal  liberty  of  action,  or  if  their  votes 
could  be  given  with  greater  privacy,  the  public  interest  would 
have  greater  weight,  and  the  influence  of  the  nobility  would 
rbe  diminished.  Since  to  make  the  voices  of  all  equal,  how- 
ever, would  be  difficult  (for  to  the  nobility  the  merits  of  their 
ancestors  have  left  glory,  rank,  and  patronage,  while  most  of 
the  other  senators  have  but  recently  attained  their  dignity),*3 

M  X.  He  becomes  vigilant  and  active]  Omnibus  locis  adesfi;  festinat. 
13  XI.  Most — have  but  rec  ently  attaned  their  dignity]  Cetera,  muUit-udo, 
pleraque  insititia  sit.     "  Having  spoken  of  the  patricians,  and  other  nobles, 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  CJ3SAR.  253 

it  will  be  proper  to  set  the  opinions  of  all  free  from  the  in- 
fluence of  fear  ;  and  thus  each,  voting  secretly,  will  act  on  his 
own  judgment  rather  than  be  swayed  by  the  authority  of  an- 
other. Freedom  of  action  is  desirable  alike  to  the  good  and 
the  bad,  the  bold  and  the  timid ;  but  too  many  relinquish  it 
from  want  of  spirit,  and,  while  a  contest  is  still  doubtful,  fool- 
ishly submit  to  a  decision  of  it  against  themselves,  as  if  they 
were  already  worsted. 

There  are  two  expedients,  then,  by  which  I  think  that  the 
power  of  the  senate  may  be  increased  ;  if  it  be  augmented  in 
numbers,  and  if  the  senators  vote  with  tablets.34  The  tablet 
will  be  as  a  screen,  under  which  each  may  take  courage  to 
vote  with  greater  freedom ;  and  in  additional  numbers  there 
will  be  additional  security  and  advantage  to  the  state.  For 
on  most  occasions,  in  the  present  day,  some  of  the  senators 
who  are  engaged  in  the  public  courts,  and  others  who  are  oc- 
cupied with  their  piivate  affairs  or  those  of  their  friends,  do 
not  give  their  attendance  at  the  councils  of  the  government ; 
and  many,  indeed,  are  kept  away  not  more  by  business  than 
by  tyrannical  influence.  Thus  a  faction  of  the  nobles,  with  a 
few  senators  who  support  them,  approve,  condemn,  and  decree 
whatever  they  please,  and  act  as  caprice  dictates.  But  when 
the  number  of  the  senators  shall  be  increased,  and  the  votes 
given  by  tablet,  the  ruling  party  will  be  compelled  to  abate 
their  haughtiness,  and  to  cringe  to  those  over  whom  they  have 
mercilessly  domineered. 

XII.  Perhaps,  general,  on  perusing  this  letter,  you  will 
wish  to  know  of  what  number  I  would  have  the  senate  consist, 
and  how  the  senators  may  be  appointed  to  their  numerous  and 
varied  duties  ;  and  since  I  would  commit  the  judicial  authority 
to  the  first  class  of  citizens,35  what  distribution  should  be  made, 

he  calls  the  rest  of  the  multitude  insititia,  inserted  or  engrafted."  Gor- 
tius. 

34  Vote  with  tablets]  Per  tabellam.  Or,  in  modern  phrase,  by  ballot.  This 
mode  of  voting  was  adopted  by  the  Romans  in  the  comitia  and  courts  of 
justice.  In  the  comitia,  when  a  law  was  to  be  passed  or  rejected,  each  citi- 
zen was  provided  with  two  tabellce,  one  inscribed  with  the  letter  V.  R.,  Uti 
rogag,  "  I  vote  as  you  desire  ;"  the  other  A.,  Antigua,  "  I  vote  for  the  former 
state  of  things."  In  the  courts  of  justice,  enchjudtx  had  three  tabettcB,  one 
marked  with  A.,  Absolvo,  "I  acquit;"  another  with  C.,  Condemns,  "I  con- 
demn;" and  the  third  with  N.  L..  Nan  liquet,  "The  matter  is  not  clear  to 
me."  These  tablets  were  dropped  into  a  cista,  or  ballot-box. 

**  XII.  To  the  first  class  of  citizens]  Burnouf  gives  this  passage,  judicia 
quoniam  omnibus  prima  dassis  mittenda  putem,  on  the  authority  of  Carrio* 


254  SALLUST. 

and  what  number  of  judges  should  be  appointed  to  each  par- 
ticular kind  of  cause.  All  these  particulars  it  would  not  be 
difficult  to  give  in  detail;  but  I  thought  it  proper  first  to  set- 
tle the  general  plan,  and  to  endeavor  to  convince  you  of  its 
reasonableness ;  if  you  resolve  to  act  on  my  suggestions,  minor 
points  will  be  easily  arranged.  I  would  wish  my  scheme  to  be 
one  of  prudence  and  utility ;  for,  wherever  success  shall  attend 
you,  reputation  will  thence  accrue  to  me.  But  the  chief  desire 
which  actuates  me  is,  that  the  state,  whatever  plan  be  adopted, 
may  as  soon  as  possible  be  benefited.  The  liberty  of  my  coun- 
try I  value  far  more  highly  than  my  own  fame ;  and  I  entreat 
and  implore,  that  you,  our  most  illustrious  commander,  after 
having  subdued  the  people  of  Gaul,  will  not  suffer  the  mighty 
and  unconquered  empire  of  Rome  to  sink  into  decay,  or  to 
fall  to  pieces  by  the  effect  of  discord.  Assuredly,  if  this 
should  happen,  neither  night  nor  day38  will  bring  you  quiet, 
but,  harassed  with  want  of  rest,  you  will  be  disturbed,  distract- 
ed, and  driven  to  despair.  For  I  consider  it  as  a  certain  truth, 
that  the  lives  of  all  men  are  under  the  eye  of  a  divine  power ; 
and  that  no  deed,  good  or  evil,  is  without  its  consequences, 
but  that  different  recompenses,  according  to  the  nature  of 
their  actions,  attend  the  virtuous  and  the  vicious.  Such  ret- 
ribution may  be  slow  in  coming ;  but  the  breast  of  every 
one,  from  the  state  of  his  conscience,  assures  him  what  he  is 
to  expect. 

XIII.  Could  your  country,  or  your  ancestors,  address  you, 
they  would  doubtless  admonish  you  in  such  words  as  these  : 
"  We,  the  bravest  of  the  human  race,  raised  you  up,  O  Caesar, 
in  the  most  excellent  of  cities,  to  be  an  honor  and  defense  to 
us,  and  a  terror  to  our  enemies.  What  we  had  acquired  by 
many  toils  and  dangers,  we  bestowed  on  you  at  the  moment 
of  your  birth  ;  a  country,  the  mistress  of  the  world;  an  illus- 
trious family  and  deisceut  in  it ;  distinguished  talents,  honorable 
wealth  ;  all  the  ornaments  of  peace,  and  all  the  glories  of 
war.  In  return  for  these  ample  gifts,  we  ask  of  you  nothing 

who  says  that  he  found  this  reading  in  one  of  the  Vatican  manuscripts. 
Huvercamp  and  Cortius  havQ^'^.ttamprimce  dassis  mittenda  putem,  of  which 
they  offer  no  explanation.  Lips'rs  proposes  to  re&dprimce  clas»i  commit- 
te-nda,  which  Cortius  approves.  Mtttenda,  in  Carrie's  reading,  must  be  takec 
in  the  sense  of  committenda. 

s«  Neither  night  nor  day,  etc.]  Drbaifulthreateniugs;  stronger,  assuredly, 
than  Sallust  would  have  used. 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  CAESAR.  255 

disgraceful  or  vicious,  but  the  restoration  of  subverted  liberty  ; 
by  the  achievement  of  which,  assuredly,  the  fame  of  your  vir- 
tues will  be  extended  throughout  the  world.  At  present, 
though  you  have  perfo.med  illustrious  actions  at  home  and  in 
the  field,  yet  your  glory  is  only  equal  with  that  of  other  heroic 
characters ;  but,  should  you  restore  a  city  of  the  highest  name, 
and  of  the  most  extensive  power,  almost  from  ruin,  who  will 
be  more  renowned,  who  really  greater  than  yourself  on  the  face 
of  the  earth  ?  If,  however,  through  internal  decay,  or  the  ap- 
pointment of  fate,37  this  empire  should  fall  to  destruction,  who 
can  doubt  but  that  devastation,  war,  and  bloodshed'  will  over- 
spread the  whole  earth  ?  But  if  you,  on  the  other  hand,  feel 
a  generous  desire  to  obey  your  country  and  your  ancestors, 
your  fame  hereafter,  when  the  state  is  re-established,  will  be 
acknowledged  superior  to  that  of  all  men,  and  your  death,  by 
peculiar  felicity,3"  will  be  more  glorious  than  your  life.  For 
sometimes  fortune,  and  very  frequently  envy,  depresses  the 
living ;  but,  when  life  has  paid  its  debt  to  nature,  and  detraction 
is  at  an  end,  true  merit  raises  itself  more  and  more." 

What  I  thought  conducive  to  the  public  good,  and  believed 
likely  to  be  of  advantage  to  yourself,  I  have  written  in  as  few 
words  as  I  could.3"  I  now  beseech  the  immortal  gods,  that,  in 
whatever  way  you  may  act,  your  endeavors  may  be  attended 
with  prosperity  to  yourself  and  your  country. 


EPISTLE  E. 

I.  It  was  formerly  admitted  as  certain,  that  Fortune  bestows 
kingdoms  and  empires,  as  well  as  other  objects  equally  coveted 
among  mankind,  of  her  own  free  gift ;  since  they  are  often 

"  XIII.  Through  internal  decay,  or  the  appointment  of  fate]  Morbojam 
autfato.  Bureau  Delamalle  refers  morbo  to  Caesar,  but  is  doubtless  in  tho 
wrong.  De  Drosses  takes  the  passage  in  the  sense  which  I  have  given. 

89  By  peculiar  felicity,  etc.]  Tuague  unius  mors  vita  clarior  erlt.  "Why 
did  he  say  tuaumus?  Because  he  wished  to  signify  that  Caesar  was  the 
only  man  who,  when  dead,  would  be  more  famous  than  when  alive.  Bur- 
nouf.  But  did  this  never  happen  to  any  other  man  ?  Would  Sallust  have 
so  expressed  himself. 

39  In  as  few  words  as  I  could]  Quam  paucissumis  potui.  Will  any  reader 
assent  to  this  assertion  of  the  writer  ?  The  same  expression  is  used  at  the 
and  of  the  following  epistle. 


256  SALLUST. 

found,  as  if  distributed  by  caprice,  in  the  hands  of  the  unwor- 
thy ;  nor  do  they  remain  unvitiated  in  the  possession  of  any 
one.  But  experience  has  taught  the  truth  of  what  Appius40 
has  said  in  his  verses,  that  Every  one  is  the  architect  of  his  own 
fortune;  a  sentiment  which  is  pre-eminently  exemplified  in 
yourself,  who  have  so  much  surpassed  others,  that  men  are 
sooner  weary  of  applauding  your  actions,  than  you  of  perform- 
ing what  is  worthy  of  applause. 

But  power  attained  by  merit,  must,  like  a  fabric  of  architect- 
ure, be  sustained  with  the  greatest  care  ;  lest  it  suifer  injury 
through  neglect,  or  sink  for  want  of  support.  For  no  man 
willingly  concedes  supreme  authority  to  another ;  and  however 
just  and  merciful  a  ruler  may  be,  yet,  as  he  has  the  power  to 
do  injury,  he  is  still  dreaded.  This  state  of  things  arises  from 
the  circumstance  that  the  greater  part  of  sovereigns  act  with 
indiscretion,  and  think  that  their  power  is  increased  in  propor- 
tion as  their  subjects  are  demoralized.41  But,  on  the  contrary, 
it  should  be  his  care,  when  he  himself  is  good  and  brave,  to 
have  those  under  his  sway  as  virtuous  as  possible ;  for  the  most 
vicious  always  submit  to  a  ruler  with  least  patience. 

For  you,  however,  it  is  more  difficult  than  for  any  who  have 
gone  before  you,  to  settle  properly  what  you  have  acquired. 
You  have  conducted  a  war  with  greater  mildness  than  others 
have  governed  in  peace ;  and,  in  addition,  the  victorious  party 
are  expecting  the  advantages  of  conquest,  while  the  vanquished 
are  your  fellow-citizens.  Amid  these  difficulties  you  will  have 
to  steer  your  course,  and  must  strengthen  the  state,  with  a  view 
to  the  future,  not  merely  with  arms,  or  against  enemies,  but, 
what  is  a  greater  and  more  arduous  task,  with  the  salutary  arts 
of  peace.  The  crisis,  therefore,  calls  on  every  man,  whether  of 
great  or  moderate  abilities,  to  offer  you  the  best  advice  in  his 

40  I.  Appius]  This  Appius  was  Appius  Claudius  Csecus,  who  made  the  Ap- 
pian  way.     His  verses  were  composed,  as  appears  from  Cicero,  in  the  man- 
ner of  the  golden,  verses  of  Pythagoras,  and  were  praised  hy  1'anaetius  in  a 
letter  to  Tubero.    See  Cic.  Tiisc.  Disp.,  iv.  2. 

41  As  their  subjects  are  demoralized]  "  This  has  been  a  constant  mistake 
among  rulers.     '  Former  princes,'  says  Pliny  (Paneg.,  c.  45),  'looked  with 
more  pleasure  on  the  vices  than  on  the  virtues  of  the  citizens  ;  not  only  be- 
cause every  one  is  pleased  to  see  a  resemblance  to  his  own  character  in  an- 
other, but  because  rulers  think  that  those  will  bear  the  yoke  of  slavery  with 
patience  who  are  fitted  only  to  be  slaves.'     .    .  •   .    . 

Intimide  et  corromps ;  c'est  ainsi  que  1'on  regne, 

says  Sejanus  to  Tiberius,  in  Chenier's  Tibere,  Act.  I.  sc.  4.  See  also  Mon- 
tesquieu's '  Spirit  of  Laws,'  iii.  5,  and  Sail.  Cat.,  c.  7."  Eurnouf. 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  C^SAR.  257 

power.  And,  in  my  opinion,  in  whatever  way  you  may  use 
your  victory,  the  future  fortune  of  the  state  will  be  in  con- 
formity with  it. 

II.  That  you  may  settle   matters  more  advantageously  and 
easily,  give  your  attention  to  a  few  suggestions  which  my  mind 
prompts  me  to  offer.    You  have  had  to  conduct  a  war,  general, 
with  a  man  of  high  reputation,  of  vast  resources,  of  inordinate 
eagerness  for  power,  but  more  indebted  to  fortune  than  to  wis- 
dom ;  a  man  whom  a  small  party  followed,  consisting  of  such 
as  had  become  your  enemies  from  having  injured  you,42  or  of 
such  as  were  attached  to  himself  by  relationship  or  personal 
obligation.     No  one  of  them  was  a  sharer  in  his  power ;  for, 
could  he  have  endured  a  rival,  the  world  would  not  have  been 
convulsed  with  war.     The  rest  attended  him   rather  after  the 
way  of  the  multitude   than  from   their  own  judgment,  each, 
indeed,  following  his  neighbor  as  if  he  were  wiser  than  himself. 
At  the  same  time,  a  set  of  men  whose  whole  lives  had  been 
polluted  with  infamy  and  licentiousness,  and  who  were  inspired, 
by  the  malicious  reports  of  the  ill-designing,  with  the  hope  of 
usurping  the  government,  flocked  into  your  camp,  and  openly 
threatened  all  who  remained  neutral  with  death,  spoliation,  and 
all  the  excesses  of  wanton  depravity.     Of  whom  the  greater 
number,  when   they  saw  that  you  would  neither  cancel  their 
debts,"  nor  treat  your  fellow-citizens  as  enemies,  gradually  fell 
away ;   the  few  that  remained  were  men,  who,  from  the  vast 
body  of  creditors  that  threatened  them,  would  find  more  peace 
in  the  camp  than  at  Rome.     But,  from  the  same  motives,  it  is 
almost  incredible  how  many  persons  of  high  rank  afterward 
went  over  to  Pompey,  and  found   his  protection,  during  the 
whole  course  of  the  war,  a  sacred  and  inviolable  sanctuary. 

III.  But  since  you  are  now,  as  conqueror,  to  determine  con- 
cerning war  and  peace,  so  as  to  put  an  end  to  the  one  like  a 
friend  of  your  country,  and  to  establish  the  other  on  a  just  and 
lasting  basis,  consider  first,  with  regard  to  your  own  conduct 
(since  it  is  on  you  that  the  settlement  of  the  state  depends), 

49  II.  From  having  injured  you]  Per  suam  injuriam  tibi  inimici.  "  Per 
suam  injuriam,  i.  e.,  because  they  had  done  injury  to  you,  for,  as  Tacitua 
says  (Agric.,  c.  42),  Proprium  Tivmani  ingenii  est  odisse  quern  Iceseris."  Bur- 
nouf.  Cortius  interprets  similarly. 

43  Cancel  their  debts]  Credit/um  condonare.  "  For  Oreditum  pecuniam  con- 
donare,  or  to  make  an  abolition  of  debts ;  but  this  phrase  is  not  Sallustian, 
nor,  indeed,  Ciceronian."  Cortius. 


258  SALLUST. 

what  will  be  the  best  measures  for  you  to  adopt.  For  my  own 
part,  I  think  that  all  power,  tyrannically  exercised,  is  irksome 
to  its  possessor  rather  than  durable  ;  and  that  no  man  excites  a 
dread  of  himself  in  the  many,  without  feeling  a  reciprocal 
dread  of  the  many  in  himself;  and  to  live  thus,  is,  as  it  were, 
to  be  engaged  in  a  perpetual  and  uncertain  warfare,  since  you 
can  neither  feel  safe  before  nor  behind  nor  on  either  side,  but 
are  always  in  peril  or  fear.  To  those,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
temper  authority  with  kindness  and  clemency,  all  seems  smiling 
and  fair ;  and  they  gain  even  greater  esteem  from  enemies  than 
oLhers  from  their  own  countrymen.  And  will  any  say  that,  by 
offering  you  such  counsel,  I  seek  to  diminish  the  advantages  of 
your  victory,  and  am  too  favorably  disposed  toward  the  van- 
quished ?  Will  they  make  such  a  charge,  merely  because  I 
iliink  that  the  same  conditions,  which  both  we  and  our  fore- 
fathers have  granted  to  foreign  nations,  who  were  our  natural 
enemies,  should  be  allowed  to  our  fellow-citizens,  and  that 
slaughter  should  not  be  expiated  with  slaughter,  and  blood  with 
blood,  according  to  the  practice  of  barbarians  ? 

IV.  Has  oblivion  fallen  on  those  actions,  which,  a  little 
before  this  war,  were  made  subjects  of  accusation  against  Pom- 
pey  and  the  victorious  Sylla  ?  That  Domitius,  Carbo,  Brutus,44 
and  others,  were  put  to  death,  not  in  arms,  nor  in  the  field  by 
the  laws  of  war,  but  when  afterward  suing  for  mercy,  with  the 
most  inhuman  barbarity  ?  And  that  the  Roman  populace  were 
butchered  like  sheep  in  the  Villa  Publica  ?46  Alas !  before 
victory  was  won  by  you,  how  savage  and  barbarous  were  all 
these  secret  and  sudden  massacres  of  citizens,  when  women  and 
children  were  seen  flying  into  the  bosom  of  their  husbands  or 
parents,  and  mourning  over  their  desolated  homes !  And  the 
same  individuals,  who  then  took  part  in  those  atrocities,  would 
now  prompt  you  to  similar  proceedings ;  as  if  the  object  of  the 
war  had  been  to  decide  which  party  should  have  the  unre- 
strained right  of  committing  outrage ;  as  if  you  had  not 
rescued  the  commonwealth  from  destruction,  but  seized  it  as  a 

41  IV.  Domitius,  Carbo,  Brutus]  "  Cn.  Domitius,  who  was  defeated  and 
killed  by  Pompey,  after  the  victory  of  Sylla,  in  Africa ;  .  .  .  .  Cn. 
Carbo,  who  was  consul  with  the  younger  Marius ;  .  .  .  .  and  Brutus, 
the  father  of  the  Brutus  who  slew  Caesar.  Burnouf. 

45  Villa  Publica]  A  building  in  the  Campus  Martius  in  which  embaesa- 
dors  from  foreign  nations  were  lodged.  Floras,  iii.  21,  says  that  four  thou- 
sand were  slain  by  Sylla  in  this  edifice ;  Sen.  de  Clem.,  i.  12,  saya  seven 
thousand. 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  CAESAR.  259 

prey ;  and  as  if  the  flower  of  our  army,  and  the  oldest  of  our 
veterans,  had  fought  against  their  brothers  and  parents  and 
children,  from  no  other  motive  than  that  the  most  abandoned 
of  men  might  procure,  from  the  calamities  of  others,  the  means 
of  gratifying  their  insatiable  appetites  and  passions,  and  might 
throw  disgrace  on  your  victory,  and  stain,  by  their  enormities, 
the  characters  of  the  worthy  men  engaged  in  the  same  cause. 
In  what  manner,  indeed,  and  with  what  modesty  they  con- 
ducted themselves,  even  while  the  fortune  of  the  contest  was 
still  doubtful ;  or  how  some,  whose  age,  even  in  peace,  could 
not  have  allowed  of  such  excesses  without  scandal,  resigned 
themselves,  during  the  course  of  the  war,  to  debauchery  and 
licentiousness,  I  can  not  suppose  to  have  escaped  your  notice. 
Of  the  war  I  have  now  said  sufficient. 

V.  But  as  you,  and  all  your  friends,  are  now  thinking  of  the 
establishment  of  peace,  consider  first,  I  entreat  you,  the  nature 
of  the  object  which  you  have  in  view;. and  thus,  distinguishing 
what  is  favorable  to  it  from  what  is  unfavorable,  you  will 
pursue  a  proper  course  toward  right  measures.  As  every  thing 
that  rises,  falls  to  decay,  I  think  that  whenever  the  appointed 
day  for  the  fall  of  Rome  shall  arrive,  it  will  come  at  a  period  in. 
which  citizens  shall  contend  with  citizens,  and  thus  render 
themselves  enfeebled  and  exhausted,  a  prey  for  some  foreign 
prince  or  people  ;  but  that  without  such  dissension,  the  whole 
world,  the  strength  of  all  nations  united,  would  in  vain  strive 
to  move  or  shake  its  power.  The  advantages  of  concord  are 
therefore  to  be  secured,  and  the  evils  of  discord  to  be  banished. 
This  will  be  effected,  if  you  suppress  the  licentiousness  of  extrav- 
agance and  peculation  ;  not,  indeed,  by  recalling  the  people  to 
the  old  regulations,40  which,  from  the  corruption  of  morals,  have 
long  since  become  a  jest,  but  by  making  every  man's  income 
the  limit  of  his  expenditure ;  for  such  habits  have  now  become 
prevalent,  that  young  men  think  it  highly  honorable  to  squan- 
der their  own  property  and  that  of  others,  and  to  refuse  nothing 
either  to  their  own  passions  or  to  the  requests  of  their  friends, 
imagining  such  extravagance  to  be  greatness  and  nobleness  of 
spirit,  and  regarding  temperance  and  honesty  as  mere  pusillani- 
mity. Thus  their  headstrong  passions,  immorally  indulged,  are 
led,  when  their  customary  supplies  fail,  to  prey  sometimes  on 

««  To  the  old  regulations]  Ad  vetera  instituta.  "  The  sumptuary  laws." 
Cortius. 


260  SALLUST. 

their  allies,  and  sometimes  on  their  own  countrymen,  disturbing 
the  tranquillity  of  the  government,  and  raising  new  fortunes  to 
repair  the  ruins  of  the  old.47  The  profession  of  the  money- 
lender, accordingly,  should  be  abolished  for  the  future,  that 
each  of  us  may  take  care  of  his  own  property.  This  is  the 
true  and  only  way  by  which  a  magistrate  may  be  brought  to 
hold  his  office  for  the  good  of  the  public,  and  not  for  that  of 
his  creditor,  and  to  show  his  greatness  of  mind,  not  by  impover- 
ishing the  state,  but  by  enriching  it. 

VI.  How  unpopular  this  measure  will  be  at  the  commence- 
ment, especially  among  those  who  expected  from  victory  an  in- 
crease of  liberty  and  license  rather  than  of  restraint,  I  am  very 
well  aware.   If,  however,  you  consult  the  welfare  of  such  persons 
rather  than  their  inclinations,  you  will  secure  settled  peace  both 
to  them,  and  us,  and  our  allies.     But  if  the  same  morals  and 
habits  be  suffered  to  prevail  among  the  youth,  your  own   emi- 
nent glory,  together  with  the  city  of  Rome  itself,  will  soon  fall 
to  nothing.     The  wise  engage  in  war  only  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
and  sustain  toil  only  from  the  hope  of  rest ;  and  unless  you 
establish  peace  and  quiet  on  a  firm  basis,  what  difference  does 
it  make  whether  you  are  defeated  or  victorious  ?     Take  upon 
yourself,  therefore,  in  the  name  of  the  gods,  the  regulation   of 
the  state,  and  surmount  all  difficulties  with  your  accustomed 
resolution  ;  for  either  you  can  heal  the  wounds  of  our  country, 
or  its  cure  must  be  left  unattempted  by  every  one.     Nor  does 
any  one,  to  that  end,  incite  you  to  the  infliction  of  severe   pen- 
alties or  harsh  sentences,  by  which  a  state  is  depopulated  rather 
than  corrected,  but  merely  to  the  suppression  of  corrupt  prac- 
tices and  licentious  indulgences  among  the  youth.     This  will 
be  true  clemency,  to  prevent  citizens  from  being  deservedly 
banished  ;  to  restrain  them  from  folly  and  deceitful  pleasures  ; 
to  establish   among  them  peace  and  harmony ;  and  not,  by 
tolerating  corruption,  and  conniving  at  vice,   to  afford  them 
temporary  gratification  at  the  expense  of  suffering  that  must 

•  soon  follow. 

VII.  As  to  your  success,  my  mind  derives   assurance  of  it 
chiefly  from  that  from  which  others  conceive  apprehensions  of 
it ;  I  mean,  the  greatness  of  the  undertaking,   and  the  knowl- 

47  New  fortunes  to  repair  the  ruins  of  the  old]  Res  nwaa  veteribu*  ac- 
quirit.  The  only  reasonable  explanation  of  this  phrase  that  has  been 
offered  is  Burnoufs:  "Quserit  res  novas  ad  vcteres,  i,  e.  res  novas,  sub- 
nidium  veteribus." 


TWO  EPISTLES  TO  JULIUS  (LESAR.  261 

edge  that  the  world,  both  by  land  and  by  sea,  is  to  be  settled 
by  your  exertions.  So  vast  a  mind  as  yours  can  not  engage  in 
small  matters ;  and  you  are  sensible,  that  of  a  great  achieve- 
ment, great  is  the  reward.  It  must  be  your  care,  then,  that 
the  populace,  who  are  now  demoralized  by  largesses  and  the 
public  distribution  of  corn,  may  occupy  themselves  with  their 
own  business,  and  thus  be  prevented  from  disturbing  the  govern- 
ment ;  and  that  the  youth  may  turn  their  attention,  not  to  pro- 
digality and  rapacity,  but  to  pursuits  of  honor  and  utility. 
This  will  be  brought  to  pass,  if  you  diminish  the  advantage 
and  honor  attendant  on  money,  which  is  the  greatest  of  all 
evils.  For,  on  frequently  reflecting  by  what  means  eminent 
men  hal  attained  greatness,  what  conduct  had  strengthened 
people  or  nations  with  great  accessions  of  power,48  and  from 
what  causes  the  mightiest  kingdoms  and  empires  had  fallen  to 
decay,  I  found  that  there  were  invariably  the  same  causes  of 
good  and  evil ;  that  those  who  rose  had  held  riches  in  contempt, 
and  those  who  fell  had  coveted  them.  No  mortal,  indeed,  can 
rise  above  others,  and  attain  to  godlike  excellence  of  character, 
unless  he  renounce  the  delights  of  wealth  and  sensuality,  and 
bestow  special  care  on  his  mind  ;  not  flattering  its  vanity,  in- 
dulging its  desires,  or  fostering  its  perverse  propensities,  but  ex- 
ercising it  with  labor  and  patience,  with  virtuous  incentives 
and  honorable  achievements. 

VILT.  For  a  man  to  erect  a  mansion  or  villa,  and  to  decorate 
it  with  statues,  tapestry,  and  other  ornaments,  and  to  make 
every  thing  in  it  admirable  except  its  possessor,  is  not  to  render 
riches  an  honor  to  himself,  but  to  be  himeslf  a  disgrace  to 
them.  Those,  too,  who  are  accustomed  to  overload  their 
stomachs  twice  a  day,  and  to  pass  no  night  without  a  mistress, 
when  they  have  enslaved  the  mind  that  ought  to  have  com- 
manded, in  vain  seek  to  employ  it,  in  its  inefficient  and  infirm 
condition,  as  if  it  had  been  wisely  improved  ;  for,  from  want  of 
intellectual  power,  they  mostly  ruin  alike  their  schemes  and 
themselves.  But  these,  and  all  other  like  evils,  will  have  an 
end,  if  the  respect  that  is  paid  to  money  be  diminished,  and  if 
neither  offices,  nor  any  objects  of  general  ambition,  be  set 
to  sale. 

ta  VII.  Great  accessions  of  power]  All  the  texts  have  magnis  auctoribus: 
but  as  Cortius  observes,  the  sense  requires  auclionibus,  the  conjecture  )f 
Carrio,  or  auctilms,  that  of  Ciacconius. 


262  SALLUST. 

Precautions  are  likewise  to  be  taken  for  the  peace  of  Italy 
and  the  provinces ;  precautions  for  which  the  means  are  not 
difficult  to  discover  ;  for  the  same  kind  of  characters,  to  whom 
I  have  previously  alluded,  extend  their  ravages  eveiy  where, 
abandoning  their  own  homes,  and,  in  violation  of  all  law,  taking 
possession  of  those  of  others.  You  must  also  see  that  the  mili- 
tary service  be  no  longer  unfairly  and  partially  imposed,  as  it 
has  hitherto  been,  some  being  forced  to  serve  for  thirty  years, 
and  others  being  wholy  exempt  from  service.  The  corn,  too, 
which  has  for  some  time  past  been  the  reward  of  idleness,  it 
will  be  proper  to  distribute  throughout  the  municipal  towns 
and  colonies  for  the  use  of  the  soldiers,  when  they  return  to 
their  homes  after  having  completed  their  term  of  service. 

What  I  thought  conducive  to  the  good  of  the  country, 
and  to  our  own  glory,  I  have  suggested  as  briefly  as  the 
subject  would  allow.  It  will  not  be  improper  for  me,  I  trust, 
to  add  one  observation  concerning  my  attempt.  Most  men 
have,  or  pretended  to  have,  sufficient  ability  to  judge  of  what 
is  submitted  to  them ;  but  that  all  have  so  violent  propensity 
to  censure  the  doings  and  sayings  of  others,  that  scarcely  any 
mouth  is  sufficiently  open,  or  any  tongue  sufficiently  ready, 
to  utter  the  thoughts  of  their  hearts.  That  I  have  exposed 
myself  to  the  criticism  of  such  persons,  I  am  not  at  all  con- 
cerned ;  on  the  contrary,  I  should  have  grieved  had  I  been 
silent.  For  whether  you  proceed  in  the  mode  which  I  have 
suggested,  or  in  any  better  way,  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of 
reflecting  that  I  have  offered  you  such  advice  and  assistance 
as  I  could.  It  remains  only  to  wish,  that,  whatever  measures 
you  may  adopt,  the  immortals  may  regard  them  with  favor, 
and  crown  them  with  success. 


A  DECLAMATION1  AGAINST  CICERO, 

FALSELY  ATTRIBUTED  TO  SALLUST. 


I.  I  SHOULD  bear  your  reproaches,  Marcus  Tullius,  with  concern  and 
indignation,  if  I  thought  that  you  indulged  in  such  insolence  from  con- 
viction, and  not  from  disease  of  mind.  But  perceiving  in  you  neither 
moderation  or  modesty,  I  will  give  you  an  answer,  in  order  that,  if  you 

1  Declamation]  "  In  Quintilian  there  are  two  references  to  the  Declnma- 
tion  (Lib.  iv.,  c.  1,  Graviter  et  iniguo  animo,  etc.,  and  Lib.  ix.,  c.  3,  O  Jtom- 
ule  Aiynnas),  where  it  is  attributed  to  Sallust.  Hence  Colomesius  thought 
it  might  safely  be  inferred  that  Sallust  was  the  author  of  it,  though  Victo- 
rius,  JLipsius,  Vossius,  and  other  learned  critics,  had  previously  demon- 
strated that  it  must  have  been  the  production  of  any  one  rather  than  Sallust ; 
as  well  as  that  the  other  Declamation,  which  is  circulated  under  Cicero's 
name,  could  not  have  been  written  by  Cicero.  In  the  latter  passage  of 
Quintilian,  indeed,  the  words  0  Romule  Arpinas  are  not  found  in  one  old 
MS.  that  belonged  to  Almeloveen,  as  the  celebrated  Burman  testifies ;  nor 
can  I  certainly  affirm  that  those  words  were  written  by  Sallust.  Concerning 
the  former  passage,  too,  I  have  similar  doubts.  But  perhaps  some  small 
critic  (not  to  say  the  writer  himself,  whoever  he  was,  with  a  view  to  add 
authority  to  his  piece,  may  have  written  the  words,  as  an  example,  in  the 
margin  of  a  MS.  of  Quintilian  ;  and  they  may  thence  have  crept  into  the 
text.  The  absence  of  the  words  from  Almeloveen's  MS.  in  the  first  pass- 
age, and  the  construction  of  the  text  in  the  second,  make  this  conjecture 
not  at  all  improbable.  But  it  was  a  practice  among  the  rhetoricians  to  com- 
pose orations  in  the  names  of  illustrious  men,  as  appears  from  Seneca,  from 
Quintilian,  iii.  10,  and  from  other  passages.  The  present  composition  is 
attributed  by  Hadrianus  Junius  de  Coma?  c.  8,  to  Vioius  Crispus  ;  by  Vos- 
i  sius  to  Porcius  Latro.  But  who  can  possibly  bring  evidence  to  settle  such 
a  point?  The  reader  may  consult  Khenanus  on  the  Dialog,  de  Orator,  imt., 
nnd  Barthius  Advers.,  xxiv.  5.  In  the  recension  of  the  text  of  these  De- 
clamations I  have  made  use  of  five  manuscripts,  most  of  which  merely  give 
the  title  Sallustius  in  Oiceronem."  Coitius.  "  If  Cortius's  conjecture,  re- 
specting the  words  in  Quintilian's  text,  be  incorrect,  it  remains  only  to 
suppose  that  after  the  work  of  Sallust  was  lost,  the  rhetorician,  who  wrote 
this  Declamation,  incorporated  the  words  which  he  found  in  Quintilian  into 
his  own  composition."  Burncntf.  The  latter  conjecture  seems  the  moro 
probable. 


264  SALLUST. 

have  received  any  pleasure  from  speaking  evil  of  me,  you  may  feel  it  di- 
minished by  hearing  evil  of  yourself. 

To  whom  shall  I  complain,  or  before  whom  shall  I  lament,  Conscript 
Fathers,  that  our  country  is  despoiled  by  different  parties,  and  become  a 
prey  to  the  dishonesty  of  the  most  audacious  of  mankind  ?  Shall  I  ad- 
dress myself  to  the  Roman  people,  who  are  so  corrupted  with  bribes, 
that  they  are  ready  to  sell  themselves  and  all  that  belongs  to  them  ?  Or 
shall  I  plead  before  you,  Conscript  Fathers,  whose  authority  is  grown  a 
jest  to  the  most  infamous  and  abandoned,  and  before  whom  Marcus  Tul- 
lius  defends  the  laws  and  judgments  of  the  people,  and  exerts  his  in- 
fluence with  the  senate,  as  if  he  were  the  sole  remaining  descendant 
of  the  illustrious  Scipio  Africanus,  and  not  a  person  who  has  merely 
crept  into  the  city,  and  been  recently  adopted  and  engrafted  into  it  ? 
But  are  your  deeds,  Marcus  Tullius,  or  your  words,  unknown  to  us  ? 
Have  you  not  lived  in  such  a  manner  from  your  boyhood,  as  to  think 
nothing  that  gratified  another  disgraceful  to  yourself?  Did  you  not 
learn  your  extraordinary  eloquence,  under  Marcus  Piso,  at  the  cost  of 
your  modesty  ?  Doubtless ;  and  it  is  by  no  means  surprising  that  you 
display  to  your  infamy  what  with  infamy  you  acquired. 

II.  But,  I  suppose,  the  splendor  of  your  affairs  at  home  exalts  your 
spirits ;  where  you  have  a  wife  polluted  with  sacrilege  and  perjury,  and 
a  daughter  who  is  a  rival  to  her  mother,  and  more  compliant  and  sub- 
missive to  you  than  she  ought  to  be  to  a  father.  Your  very  home 
itself,  thus  fatal  to  you  and  yours,  you  secured  by  force  and  lawless- 
ness ;  as  if  with  a  view  to  remind  us  how  much  the  state  is  altered, 
when  you,  a  most  infamous  character,  dwell  in  that  house  which  once 
belonged  to  Publius  Crassus,  a  man  of  consular  honors.  And  though 
these  things  are  so,  Cicero  nevertheless  says  that  he  has  been  at  the 
council  of  the  immortal  gods,2  whence  he,  who  turns  the  disaster  of 
the  country  to  his  own  glory,  was  dispatched  as  a  guardian  to  our 
city  and  its  inhabitants,  and  not  under  the  name  of  executioner  ;3  as 
if,  forsooth,  your  consulship  itself  had  not  been  the  cause  of  the  con- 
spiracy, and  as  if  the  state  had  not  then  been  disordered  in  consequence 
of  having  you  for  a  protector.  But,  as  I  conceive,  you  must  pride 
yourself  still  more  on  those  measures  which  you  adopted  after  your 
consulship,  in  concert  with  your  wife  Terentia,  when  you  conducted 
trials  at  your  house  under  the  Plautian  law,4  condemning  some  of  the 
conspirators  to  death,  and  others  to  pay  fines ;  when  one  built  you  a 
Tusculan,  another  a  Pompeian  villa,5  and  a  third  bought  you  a  house; 
but  he  who  could  do  nothing  for  you,  was  devoted  to  obloquy ;  ho  had 

2  At  the  council  of  the  immortal  gods]  "  Because  Cicero,  in  most  of  his 
speeches  and  harangues,  was  acustomed  to  say,  Non.  humtinis  opitnix,  nee 
arte  magixtrd  ita  reipMicce  consultum,  sed  divind  miseratione^    Badius  As- 
censius. 

3  Name  of  executioner]  Absque  carnificw  nomine.     "  A  malicious  allusion 
to  Cicero's  observation,  sine  ccude  et  sanguine  rempublicam  servatam."  Badius 
Asoensius. 

4  The  Plautian  law]  See  Cat.,  c.  31. 

8  Tusculan — Pompeian  villa]  These  are  so  frequently  mentioned  in  Cicero 
that  wo  might  reasonably  abstain  from  making  any  annotation  upon  them  ; 
the  reader  may,  however,  consult  Epist.  ad.  Alt.,  xiii.  14,  and  ii.  4."  Gortiub, 


A  DECLAMATION  AGAINST  CICERO.  265 

come  to  attack  your  dwelling,  or  had  laid  a  plot  against  the  senate; 
and  you  were  quite  sure  of  his  guilt.  If  the  charges  which  I  make  are 
ialso,  state  what  property  you  inherited  from  your  father,  how  much 
you  have  acquired  by  pleading  causes,  from  what  resources  you  bought 
your  house,  and  reared,  at  such  vast  expense,  your  Tusculan  and  Pom- 
pcian  villas. 

III.  But,  we  may  suppose,  a  new  man  of  Arpinum,  of  the  breed  of 
Caius  Marius,  imitates  his  virtue,  contemns  the  enmity  of  the  nobility, 
holds  his  country  dear,  is  to  be  influenced  neither  by  intimidation  nor 
by  interest ;  such  would  be  his  love  for  the  state,  and  such  his  virtuous 
magnanimity.6  On  the  contrary,  he  is  a  man  of  the  lightest  character, 
suppliant  to  his  enemies,  insolent  to  his  friends  ;  a  follower  sometimes 
of  one  party  and  sometimes  of  another,  and  faithful  to  none ;  an  un- 
stable senator,  a  mercenary  patron ;  a  person  whose  every  member  is 
polluted  with  turpitude,  whose  tongue  is  false,  whose  hands  are  rapa- 
cious, whose  feet  are  fugitive,  and  what  can  not  decently  be  named,  the 
most  dishonored  of  alL  Yet  he,  a  person  of  this  description,  dares  to 
exclaim, 

Ofortunaiam7  naiam,  mt  consule,  Eomam! 

Homo  fortunate  under  your  consulship,  Cicero?  Nay,  indeed,  most 
unfortunate  and  wretched,  suffering  a  most  cruel  proscription  of  her 
citizens,  when  you.  in  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  state,  compelled 
all  the  respectable  classes  to  shrink  before  your  severity ;  when  all 
causes,  and  all  laws,  were  under  you  •  control,  and  when,  having  set 
{.side  the  Porcian  law,  and  despoiled  us  of  our  liberty,  you  took  the 
power  of  life  and  death,  over  every  one  of  us,  into  your  own  hands.  Nor 
are  you  content  to  have  done  this  with  impunity ;  you  who  reproach 
us  by  reminding  us  of  it ;  nor  are  we  allowed  to  forget  our  slavish 
submission.  But  let  it  suffice,  I  entreat  you,  Cicero,  that  you  have 
effected  and  accomplished  what  you  pleased ;  it  is  sufficient  that  wo 
have  endured  it;  would  you,  in '  addition,  burden  our  ears  with  the 
odious  repetition  of  your  deeds,  and  harass  them  with  those  most  offen- 
sive words, 

Cedant  arma  togce,  concedat  laurea  linguce  ?3 

As  if  you  had  perpetrated  the  deeds  of  which  you  boast  with  the  aid  of 
the  toga,  and  not  with  arms,  or  as  if  there  were  any  difference  between 
you  and  Sylla  the  dictator,  except  in  your  title  of  authority. 

But  why  should  I  expose  your  presumption,  when  you  yourself  pre- 
tend that  Minerva  has  taught  you  all  arts,  and  when  the  good  and 
great  Jupiter  has  admitted  you  to  the  council  of  the  gods,  and  Italy 
brought  you  back  from  exile  on  her  shoulders  ?  Let  me  ask  you,  O 

•  Snch  his  love — virtuous  magnanimity]  Ulud  vero  amicitice  tant-um  ac 
virtutis  est  animl.     These  words  are  evidently  corrupt,  as  Glareanus  and 
Cortius  observe.    I  have  given  them  such  a  sense  as  the  passage  seems  to 
require. 

7  Oforti/natam,  etc.]  See  Juv.,  x.  122;  Qnintil.,  xi.  1. 

*  Lavrea  lingua]   "  In  Cic.  Off.,  i.  22,  the  verse  is  read  laurea  laudi, 
which  the  critics  prefer,  though  some  contend  for  linguce.    See  the  Com- 
muututors  ou  that  passage,  and  Burman  on  QuintiL,  xi.  1."     Cortius. 

12 


266  SALLUST. 

Romulus9  of  Arpinum,  who,  in  your  extraordinary  merit,  have  sur- 
passed all  the  Paulli,  Fabii,  and  Scipios,  what  place  you  hold  in  the 
state,  what  party  in  the  republic  suits  you  ?  Whom  do  you  choose  as  a 
friend,  whom  as  an  enemy  ?  Him,  for  whom  you  laid  a  plot  in  the  state, 
you  now  serve  ;  (with  what  justice,10  when  you  returned  from  your  ex- 
ile at  Dyrrachium,  did  you  follow  him?)  of  those  whon  you  called  tyrants, 
you  now  support  the  power ;  those  whom  you  thought  men  of  honor, 
you  now  call  fools  and  madmen.  You  plead  the  cause  of  Vatinius ;  you 
have  a  bad  opinion  of  Sextius ;  you  assail  Bibulus  with  the  most  inso- 
lent language ;  you  extol  Cassar ;  whomsoever  you  hated  most,  to  him 
you  are  the  most  submissive ;  you  have  one  opinion,  on  political  affairs, 
when  you  are  standing,  and  another  when  you  are  sitting ;  some  you 
slander,  and  others  you  hate ;  and,  0  most  fickle  of  renegades,  you  ar<s 
trusted  neither  by  one  party  nor  by  the  other. 

8  Romulus]  "  He  calls  him  a  Romulus,  as  if  he  were  the  author  of  a  new 
state  of  things."  Oortmg. 

10  With  what  justice,  etc.]  "I  have  included  these  words  in  a  parenthesis, 
to  give  a  little  help  to  the  sentence,  the  meaning  of  which,  in  the  common 
editions,  it  is  difficult  to  unravel.  *  *  *  Cicero,  in  his  exile,  resided  at 
Dyrrachium,  both  for  the  sake  of  safety  and  of  easily  hearing  news  from 
Eome.  See  Ep.  xiv.  1,  iii.  8.  Be_fore  he  went  into  exile,  he  was  ojfered  a 
legation  by  Cffisar,  which  he  declined ;  but  after  his  return,  he  was  among 
Caesar's  followers."  Corbws. 


A  DECLAMATION  AGAINST  SALLUST. 

FALSELY  ATTRIBUTED  TO  CICERO.1 


I.  IT  is  your  great  pleasure,  Sallust,  to  lead  a  life  suitable  and  corre- 
spondent to  your  words,  and  to  utter  nothing,  of  however  foul  a  charac- 
ter, to  which  your  conduct,  even  from  your  earliest  boy  hood,  has  not  been 
answerable ;  so  that  your  language  is  uniformly  consistent  with  your 
morals.  For  neither  can  any  one,  who  lives  like  you,  speak  otherwise 
than  you  speak ;  nor  can  the  life  of  any  one,  whose  conversation  is  so 
impure,  be  more  honorable  than  your  own. 

In  what  direction  shall  I  turn  my  thoughts,  Conscript  Fathers ;  and 
with  what  shall  I  commence  ?  The  better  each  of  us  is  known,  the 
heavier  is  the  task  which  I  undertake  in  addressing  you.  Should  I  an- 
swer this  calumniator  with  regard  to  my  own  life  and  actions,  envy  will 
Btill  follow  my  glory ;  and,  if  I  expose  his  actions,  habits,  and  whole 
course  of  conduct,  I  shall  fall  into  the  same  fault  of  shamelessness  which  I 
object  to  him.  If,  therefore,  you  are  at  all  offended,  you  ought  to  ex- 
press displeasure  at  him,  who  commenced  the  subject,  rather  than  at 
myself.  It  shall  be  my  care  to  defend  myself  with  the  least  possible  of- 
fensiveness  of  language,  and  to  make  it  appear  that  I  advance  nothing 
false  against  my  opponent. 

I  am  aware  that,  in  replying,  I  have  no  great  expectation  of  securing 
your  attention,  for  you  are  certain  that  you  will  hear  no  new  charges 
against  Sallust,  but  will  merely  recognize  old  associations,  with  which 
your  ears  and  mine,  as  well  as  his  own,  have  long  tingled.  But  you 
have,  on  this  account,  the  greater  reason  to  detest  the  man;  a  man 
who,  not  even  at  his  entrance  on  vice,  contented  himself  with  essays 
in  small  matters,  but  commenced  his  course  in  such  a  way  that  he 
could  neither  be  surpassed  by  any  one,  or  surpass  himself  during  the 
rest  of  his  life.  He  indeed  aims  at  nothing  else,  but,  like  a  filthy 
gwine,  to  wallow  with  any  one  whatsoever.  But  he  is  greatly  deceived 

1  Cioero]  Glareanus  observes  that  there  is  an  imitation  of  Cicero's  copious- 
ness of  stylo  in  this  Declamation ;  as  there  is  of  Sallost's  brevity  in  the 
preceding. 


2TG8  SALLUST. 

if  ho  thinks  that  he  shall  palliate  his  conduct  by  his  charges  against 
myself;  for  infamy  of  life  is  not  to  be  effaced  by  impudence  of  tongue; 
and  there  is  a  certain  feeling  of  abhorrence,  of  which  every  one  is  sen- 
sible from  the  promptings  of  his  own  mind,  against  him  who  throws  out 
false  aspersions  on  respectable  characters.  If,  therefore,  the  acts  of  his 
life  defy  recollection,  you  must  form  your  estimate  of  it,  Conscript 
Fathers,  not  from  his  speeches,  but  from  his  habits.  I  will  endeavor, 
as  far  as  I  can,  to  dispatch  my  account  of  him  with  brevity.  Nor 
Avill  this  dispute  of  ours,  Conscript  Fathers,  be  without  advantage  to 
yourselves ;  for  the  authority  of  a  government  is  often  increased  by  tho 
enmities  of  individuals,  whose  influence  allows  no  man  to  conceal  his 
real  character. 

II.  In  the  first  place,  then,  since  Sallust  judges  of  the  ancestors  of  all 
men  by  one  precedent  and  rule.2  I  would  wish  him  to  tell  me  of  what 
estimation3  or  fame  were  the  Scipios,  Metelli,  and  Fabii,  whose  names 
he  has  mentioned,  before  their  exploits,  and  a  life  of  honor,  recommend- 
ed them  to  notice.  But  if  such  was  the  commencement  of  their  reputa- 
tion and  celebrity,  why  may  not  the  case  be  similar  with  myself, 
whose  actions  are  honorable,  and  whose  life  has  been  passed  without 
blame  ?  You  speak  as  if  you  yourself,  Sallust,  were  sprung  from  such 
men  I  But  if  you  were,  there  would  be  some  to  be  ashamed  of  your 
infamy.  I  have  outshone  my  ancestors  in  merit,  so  that  if  they  were 
previously  unnoticed,  they  may  date  the  origin  of  their  notice  from  me ; 
you,  by  tho  disgraceful  lifo  which  you  have  led,  have  thrown  a  great 
cloud  over  yours,  so  that,  though  they  may  have  been  excellent  citi- 
zens, they  may  well  sink  into  oblivion.  Forbear,  therefore,  to  taunt 
me  with  tho  want  of  distinguished  forefathers ;  for  it  is  better  that  I 
should  attain  eminence  by  my  own  actions,  than  be  dependent  on  tho 
fume  of  my  ancestors,  and  that  I  should  live  a  lifo  which  may  be  tho 
commencement  of  nobility,  as  well  as  an  example  of  virtue  to  my  de- 
scendants. Nor  is  it  just,  Conscript  Fathers,  that  I  should  be  compared 
with  those  who  are  dead,  and  who  aro  free  from  the  influence  of  hatred 
or  envy,  but  with  those  who  are  engaged  with  me  in  tho  service  of  my 
country.  But  if  I  have  been  too  ambitious  of  honor  (I  do  not  allude  to 
the  ambition  to  serve  tho  state,  in  which  I  confess  that  I  would  stand 
foremost,  but  to  that  pernicious  ambition  in  defiance  of  tho  laws,  in 
which  Sallust  has  ever  been  a  leader),  or  if  I  have  been  as  severe  as 
you  state  that  I  have  been,  in  the  exorcise  of  office  or  the  punishment 
of  crimes ;  or  if  I  have  been  as  vigilant  as  you  represent  in  defense  of 
the  state  (a  vigilance  which  you  call  a  proscription,  I  suppose  because 
all  like  yourself  did  not  live  unmolested  in  the  city,  though  how 
much  better  would  be  the  present  condition  of  the  country,  if  you,  who 
resembled  those  infamous  traitors,  had  been  numbered  with  them  in 

2  One  precedent  and  rule]  "  As  the  pseudo-Sallust  mentions  the  Scipios 
and  Fabii.  who  were  truly  noble  men,  the  pseudo-Cicero  accuses  him  ot  re- 
quiring all  truly  noble  men  to  have  had  ancestors  such  as  those  of  the  Scipios 
and  Fabii."  Cortius. 

1  Of  what  estimation]  Quails  opinionis.  This  usage  of  opinio,  which  oc- 
curs in  the  fame  sense  a  few  lines  below,  is  sufficient  to  show  that  this 
composition  is  of  the  later  Latiuity. 


A  DECLAMATION  AGAINST  SALLUST.  2G9 

death!)  did  I,  who,  clad  in  the  toga,  cut  off  armed  incendiaries,  and 
suppressed  a  war  without  disturbing  peace,  unjustly  say  Cedant  arma 
togte,  or,  when  I  extinguished  such  desperate  hostility,  such  formidable 
treason  within  the  city,  did  I  unreasonably  exclaim,  Fortunatum  natam, 
me  consitle,  Romani  ? 

III.  Do  you  feel  no  concern,  most  fickle-minded  of  men,  when  you 
blame,  on  the  present  occasion,  those  parts  of  my  conduct  which  in  your 
History  you  describe  as  honorable  to  me  ?     Which  is  more  disgraceful 
to  him,  Conscript  -  Fathers,  to  record  falsehoods  in  writing,  or  to  state 
them  to  this  assembly  ?    In  reply  to  the  aspersions  which  you  have 
thrown  upon  my  life,  I  may  say  that  I  am  so  far  from  impurity  as 
you  are  from  purity.     But  why  should  I  make  further  complaint  of  your 
calumnies  ?     For  what  falsehood  can  you  think  dishonorable,  when  you 
dare  to  represent  my  eloquence  as  a  vice,  eloquence  of  which  your  guilt 
has  constantly  needed  the  protection  ?     Do  you  imagine  that  any  man 
can  become  a  distinguished  member  of  the  state,  who  is  not  instructed 
in  such  arts  and  studies  as  I  have  pursued  ?    Do  you  suppose  that  any 
better  basis  and  cradle  of  virtue  can  be  found,  or  ary  more  effectual 
method  of  exciting  the  mind  in  the  pursuit  of  glory  ?     But  it  is  not  at 
all  surprising,  Conscript  Fathers,  that  a  man  who  is  sunk  in  sloth  and 
luxury  should  express  wonder  at  such  studies,  as  if  they  were  new  and 
unusual. 

As  to  your  attacks,  so  extraordinary  in  their  virulence,  upon  my  wife 
and  daughter,  who  have  more  easily  refrained  from  the  opposite  sex 
than  you  from  your  own,  you  have  shown  great  skill  and  judgment  in 
making  them ;  for  you  naturally  expected  that  I  should  not  retaliate,  or 
make  any  similar  attack  on  your  family,  since  you  have  matter  enough 
for  obloquy  in  your  own  person,  and  since  there  is  nothing  in  your 
house  more  infamous  than  yourself.  But  you  are  greatly  deceived  if  you 
hope  to  raise  odium  against  me  on  account  of  my  property,  which  is 
indeed  much  less  than  I  deserve  to  have  ;  but  I  could  wish,  on  one  ac- 
count, that  it  were  less  than  it  is,  and  that  all  my  friends  who  have 
left  me  legacies  were  alive,  rather  than  that  I  were  enriched  by  their 
favors. 

Am  I  a  fugitive,  Sallust,  because  I  retreated  before  the  madness  of  a 
tribune  of  the  people  ?  I  thought  it  better  that  I,  as  an  individual, 
should  incur  any  fate  whatever,  than  be  the  cause  of  discord  among  the 
whole  Roman  people.  But  as  soon  as  that  incendiary  had  completed 
his  year  of  disorder,  and  all  that  he  had  disturbed  had  subsided  into 
peace  and  quiet,  I  returned  at  the  call  of  this  house,  the  whole  state,  aa 
it  were,  leading  me  back  by  the  hand.  And  the  day  of  my  return,  if  it 
be  compared  with  the  rest  of  my  life,  has,  in  my  estimation,  a  superior- 
ity over  the  whole  of  it,  as,  on  that  day,  the  whole  of  your  assembly, 
Conscript  Fathers,  and  a  vast  concourse  of  the  Roman  people,  welcomed 
ine  on  my  re-appearance. 

IV.  Such  was  the  value  which  they  set  upon  me,  whom  you  call  a 
fugitive  and  a  mercenary  patron.     Nor,  indeed,  is  it  wonderful  that  I 
should  have  always  thought  the  friendship  of  all  men  justly  due  to  me ; 
for  to  no  man  have  I  played  the  servitor,  to  no  man  have  I  attached 
myself  with  a  view  to  private  interest,  but  have  regarded  every  one  as 


270  SALLUST. 

my  friend  or  my  enemy  according  to  his  feelings  for  the  republic.  I 
wished  for  the  establishment  of  nothing  so  much  as  of  public  peace ; 
many  encouraged  the  audacious  attempts  of  individuals  for  their  own 
advantage.  I  feared  nothing  but  the  laws;  many  desired  that  their 
own  arms  should  be  dreaded.  I  never  longed  to  exert  power  but  for 
your  good ;  many  even  of  yourselves,  relying  on  their  own  influence, 
abused  their  authority  to  your  injury.  It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  if 
I  have  found  friendship  from  none  but  such  as  were  friends  to  the  state ; 
nor  do  I  repent  either  of  having  afforded  my  protection  to  Vatinius, 
when  he  solicited  it  under  accusation,  or  of  having  repressed  the  inso- 
lence of  Sextius,  or  of  having  condemned  the  unconcern  of  Bibulus,  or 
of  having  been  favorable  to  the  merits  of  Caesar;  for  such  conduct 
should  be  regarded  as  the  great  and  distinguished  praise  of  a  high- 
minded  citizen,  and  if  you  impute  it  to  me  as  a  fault,  it  will  be  audacity 
on  your  part,  and  not  unreasonableness  on  mine,  that  will  be  the  proper 
object  of  censure.  I  would  say  more  to  the  same  purpose,  Conscript 
Fathers,  if  I  had  to  address  myself  to  any  other  assembly  than  yours, 
for  you  yourselves  prompted  me  to  all  that  I  did ;  and,  where  the  proofs 
of  actions  are  known,  what  need  is  there  to  multiply  words  respecting 
them? 

V.  I  now  return  to  yourself,  Sallust.  Of  your  father,  I  shall  say  noth- 
ing, who,  however,  if  he  never  committed  a  fault  in  his  life,  could  not 
have  done  a  greater  mischief  to  his  country  than  by  sending  into  it  such 
a  son  as  yourself.  Nor  shall  I  inquire  of  what  irregularities  you  were 
guilty  in  your  boyhood,  lest  I  should  seem  to  reflect  on  the  parent  who 
then  had  charge  of  you ;  but  I  shah1  notice  only  the  sort  of  youth  that 
you  passed ;  for,  if  this  is  shown,  it  will  easily  be  understood  how.  for- 
ward you  must  have  been  in  childhood,  and  how  impudently  and  auda- 
cious you  grew  up.  After  the  gains  of  your  shamelessness  became  in- 
adequate to  support  the  extravagance  of  your  luxury,  and  you  had 
grown  too  old  to  submit  yourself  to  the  pleasure  of  others,  you  were 
incited,  by  indomitable  passions,  to  try  on  others  what  you  had  not 
thought  disgraceful  to  yourself.  It  is  not  easy  to  decide,  therefore,  Con- 
script Fathers,  whether  the  mode  in  which  he  acquired  his  gains,  or 
that  in  which  he  squandered  them,  was  the  more  dishonorable.  He  of- 
fered for  sale,  and  actually  sold,  to  his  perpetual  infamy,  his  father's 
house  in  his  father's  lifetime ;  and  who  can  doubt  that  he  shortened  the 
life  of  the  parent,  to  whose  whole  property  he  made  himself  heir  before 
his  death  ?  Nor  am  I  at  all  ashamed  that  he  should  ask  me  who  lives 
in  the  house  of  Crassus,  when  he  can  not  inform  me  who  lives  in  that  of 
his  own  father.  But,  perhaps,  his  faults  were  only  those  of  youth,  and 
he  corrected  them  as  he  grew  older.  Far  from  it ;  he  united  himself  to 
the  society  of  the  abandoned  Nigidianus  ;4  he  was  twice  brought  before 
the  magistrate,  and  reduced  to  the  utmost  peril;  and,  though  he  escaped 
condemnation,  it  was  not  because  he  himself  appeared  innocent,  but  be- 
cause his  judges  were  thought  guilty  of  perjury.  Having  obtained  the 
quaestorship  as  his  first  office,  he  looked  down  with  contempt  on  this 
place  and  this  assembly,  to  which  an  entrance  had  been  opened  for  one 

*  Nigidianus]  Who  he  was,  is  unknown. 


A  DECLAMATION  AGAINST  SALLUST.  271 

BO  mean  as  himself.  Fearing,  accordingly,  that  the  turpitude  of  his  life, 
though  he  had  been  an  object  of  detestation  to  every  husband  in  the 
city,  might  not  be  sufficiently  known  to  you,  he  confessed  in  your 
own  hearing,  and  without  blushing  before  your  gaze,  that  he  was  an 
adulterer. 

VI.  But  let  it  be  enough  for  you  to  have  lived  as  you  pleased,  and 
to  have  done  what  you  wished ;  let  it  also  be  enough  for  you  to  be 
conscious  to  yourself  of  your  own  crimes,  and  do  not  reproach  us  with 
unreasonable  heedlessness  and  indifference.  "We  are  careful  in  protect- 
ing the  chastity  of  our  wives,  though  we  are  not  sufficiently  vigilant  to 
guard  against  you;  for  your  audacity  goes  beyond  our  imaginations. 
Can  any  deed  or  word,  Conscript  Fathers,  however  dishonorable,  deter 
him  who  was  not  ashamed,  in  the  hearing  of  you  all,  to  acknowledge 
his  adultery  ?  "Were  I  to  make  no  reply  on  my  own  behalf,  but  merely 
to  recite,  before  this  whole  assembly  the  censorial  judgment5  of  those 
irreproachable  men,  Appius  Claudius  and  Lucius  Piso,6  a  judgment  in 
which  each  of  them  concurred,7  should  I  not  be  thought  to  inflict  such  a 
lasting  stain  on  your  character  as  the  efforts  of  your  whole  life  could  not 
efface  ?  Nor,  after  that  sentence  of  the  senate,  did  we  ever  see  you  in 
public,  except,  perhaps,  when  you  threw  yourself  into  that  camp8  into 
which  all  the  refuse  of  the  state  had  collected  itself.  But  this  Sallust, 
who,  in  time  of  peace,  had  not  even  remained  a  senator,  was  brought 
back  into  the  senate,  after  the  expiration  of  his  quaestorship,  at  a  time 
when  the  government  was  overwhelmed  with  a  military  force,  and  when 
the  same  personage,  who  then  gained  the  ascendency,9  restored  the  ex- 
iles. But  he  exercised  his  office10  in  such  a  manner  as  to  set  every  thing 
to  sale  for  which  a  purchaser  could  be  found.  He  acted  as  if  he  thought 
all  was  right  and  just  that  he  chose  to  do,  and  abused  his  authority  as  if 
it  had  been  given  him  only  to  obtain  spoil  from  it 

Having  concluded  his  qusestorship,  and  having  given  large  pledges  to 
those,  to  whom,  from  similarity  of  pursuits,  he  had  united  himself,  he 
seemed  to  have  become  one  of  themselves,  Sallust,  indeed,  was  an  ex- 
cellent specimen  of  that  assemblage  into  which  masses  of  all  kinds  of 

8  Judgment]  Elogium.  "  The  word  signifies  the  sentence  and  the  reasons 
for  it."  Cortina. 

•  Appius  Claudius  and  Lucius  Piso]  "  They  were  censors  A.U.C.  704,  and 
expelled  from  the  senate  many  of  the  nobility,  among  whom  was  Sallust,  if 
Dion  Cassius,  lib.  xl.,  is  to  be  believed."     Cortius. 

7  In  which  each  of  them  concurred]   Quo  tisns  est  quisque  eorum.     This 
passage  is  very  obscure.    The  eorum  must  refer  to  the  censors,  as  Cortius 
observes ;  but  uterqve  should  have  been  used  instead  of  quisque.   The  words 
pro  lege,  which  follow  eorum,  I  have  omitted,  for  all  the  commentators  sus- 
pect them,  and  none  attempt  to  explain  them. 

8  Camp]  "  That  of  Ca?sar.  Many  Knights  and  senators,  after  the  sentences 
of  Appius  and  Piso,  joined  the  party  of  Caesar,  according  to  Dion  Cassius, 
lib.  xl."     Cortius. 

•  Same  personage,  who  then  gained  the  ascendency]  He  means  Caesar. 
The  text  or  Cortius  is  idem  victor,  qui  exules  redvxit :  with  victor  he  under- 
stands^^.    Other  copies  have  idem  mctores,  qui  exules  reduxit. 

'•  His  office]  Bonorem.  He  seems  to  have  been  reinstated  in  his  qusestor- 
ship. See  below,  c.  8,  bis  qvwstoremjieri. 


272  SALLUST. 

filth  had  collected  as  into  a  gulf;  whatever  licentious  and  debauched 
characters,  traitors,  despisers  of  religion,  and  debtors,  were  to  be  found 
in  the  city,  in  the  municipal  towns,  the  colonies,  and  throughout  Italy, 
had  sunk  there  aa  into  the  waters  of  an  ocean  ;  persons  the  most  aban- 
doned and  infamous,  fitted  for  a  camp  only  by  the  extravagance  of  their 
vices,  and  their  eagerness  to  disturb  the  state. 

VII.  But,  perhaps,  when  he  was  made  praetor,  he  conducted  himself 
with  propriety  and  abstinence.     On  the  contrary,  did  he  not  spread  such 
devastation  through  his  province  that  our  allies  endured  or  expected 
nothing  worse  in.  war  than  they  experienced  in  peace,  under  his  govern- 
ment of  interior  Africa  ?     He  carried  off,  from  that  country,  all  that  could 
either  bo  taken  away  on  credit,  or  crammed  into  vessels.     He  carried  off, 
I  say,   Conscript  Fathers,  whatever  he  pleased ;  and   bargained  with 
Caesar,  for  ten  thousand  pounds,11  that  he  should  not  be  brought  to  trial. 
If  any  of  these  statements  are  false,  Sallust,  refute  them  at  once,  and 
show  by  what  means  you,  who,  a  short  time  before,  could  not  redeem 
even  the  house  of  your  father,  were  able  to  purchase,  as  if  you  had  been 
enriched  in  a  dream,  those  expensive  gardens,  with  the  villa  of  Caius 
Cassar  at  Tibur,  and  the  rest  of  your  possessions?     Were  you  not 
ashamed  to  ask  why  I  had  bought  the  house  of  Crassus,  when  you 
yourself  are  the  proprietor  of  an  ancient  country-seat  which  once  belonged 
to  Caesar?     Having  just  before,  I  say,  eaten  up,  or  rather  devoured,  your 
patrimony,  by  what  means  did  you  suddenly  become  so  wealthy  and 
affluent?     For  who  would  make  you  his  heir? — a  person  whom  no  one 
thinks  respectable  enough  for  an  acquaintance,  unless  he  be  of  the  same 
description  and  character  as  yourself? 

VIII.  Or  can  we  suppose  that  the  merits  of  your  ancestors  exalt  you 
in  your  own  estimation  ?     But,  whether  we  say  that  you  resemble  them, 
or  that  they  resemble  you,  no  addition  could  bo  made  to  the  guilt  and 
impurity  of  the  whole  family.12     Or  shall  wo  rather  imagine  that  your 
own  honors  render  you  insolent?     But  do  you,  0  Crispus  Sallust,  think 
it  as  much  to  be  twice  a  senator13  and  twice  a  quaestor,  as  to  be  twice  a 
consul  and  twice  to  obtain  a  triumph  ?    He  who  is  eager  to  speak  against 
another,  ought  to  be  free  from  fault  himself;  he  only  can  properly  re- 
proach his  neighbor,  who  will  hear  no  just  accusation  from  him.u     But 

11  Ten  thousand  pounds]  Sestertio  duodecies.     The   exact  sum   will   bo 
£9686,  18*.  2d. 

13  Guilt  and  impurity  of  the  whole  family]  JVthil  ad  omnium  scelus  ac  ne- 
quitiam  addipotest.   This  is  scarcely  consistent  with  c.  5,  where  he  abstains 
from  saying  any  thing  against  Sallust's  father. 

11  Twice  a  senator,  etc.]  Tantidem  jnitas  esse  lie  senatorem,  et  bis  qiwestorem 
\fieri,  quanti  Us  consularem,  et  bis  trvumpliaUm.  "Sallust.  to  his  great  dis- 
grace, was  made  a  senator  fivice,  through  liaving  been  expelled  from  the  sen- 
ate ;  but  Cicero  was  made  bis  cons-ularis  to  his  great  honor,  having  been  ex- 
iled when  he  was  a  consularis,  and  afterward  recalled  to  the  enjoyment  of 
all  his  dignities.  He  may  be  called  bis  triumphalis  in  the  same  sense,  since 
he  had  gained  a  triumph,  and  this  honor,  though  not  lost  by  his  banish- 
ment, may  be  considered  as  having  been  renewed  at  his  return.''  Cor- 
tins. 

14  Who  will  hear  no  just  accusation  from  him]  Qui  nonpotest  verum  ab 
altero  audire.     "  This  is,  cui  non  ab  altero  vera  crimina  onjici  poss-unt,  is 


A  DECLAMATION  AGAINST  SALLUST.  273 

you,  the  parasite  of  every  table,  the  pathic  of  every  couch  when  your  age 
allowed,  and  afterward  the  adulterer,  are  a  disgrace  to  every  order,  and 
perpetually  remind  us  of  the  civil  war.15  For  what  worse  calamity  do 
we  endure  from  it,  than  that  of  seeing  you  reinstated  in  this  assembly  ? 
But  forbear  to  attack  good  men  with  forwardness  of  speech ;  forbear  to 
foster  the  vice  of  an  intemperate  tongue ;  forbear  to  form  your  opinion 
of  every  man  by  your  own  conduct ;  for,  by  such  conduct,  you  can 
never  acquire  a  friend,  and  appear  willing  to  have  an  enemy.16 

I  shall  say  nothing  more,  Conscript  Fathers,  for  I  have  observed  that 
those  who  give  unvailed  narratives  of  the  crimes  of  others,  often  incur 
the  disgust  of  their  auditors,  even  more  than  those  who  have  committed 
them.  For  my  own  part,  it  must  be  my  care  to  say,1?  not  what  Sallust 
may  deservedly  hear,  but  what  I  myself  may  decently  utter. 

demum  male  dicere  atteri  potest.  But  I  suspect  that  the  passage  is  cor- 
rupt." C&rtius. 

14  Perpetually  remind  us  of  the  civil  war]  Es — cimlis  tetti  memoria. 
"  Because  it  was  the  civil  war  that  restored  Salluat  to  the  senate."  Cor- 
tius. 

18  An  enemy]  Meaning  himself,  as  Cortius  thinks. 

17  It  must  be  my  care  to  say,  etc.]  Ratio  habenda  est — ut  ea  dicam.  These 
words  seem  more  appropriate  to  the  commencement  than  the  conclusion  of 
a  speech. 

12* 


EPITOME   OF  ROMAN  HISTORY. 

BY   LUCIUS  ANN^EUS   FLORUS. 


THE   AUTHOR'S   PREFACE. 

TIBG  Roman  people,  during  seven  hundred  years,  from  the 
time  of  king  Romulus  to  that  of  Caesar  Augustus,  performed 
such  mighty  acts  both  in  peace  and  war,  that  if  any  one 
compares  the  greatness  of  their  empire  with  its  years,  he 
will  think  it  out  of  proportion  to  its  age.1  So  far  through- 
out the  world  have  they  extended  their  arms,  that  those  who 
read  their  exploits,  learn  the  fate,  not  of  one  people  only, 
but  of  all  mankind.  So  numerous  are  the  toils  and  dangers 
in  which  they  have  been  exercised,  that  ability3  and  fortune 
seem  to  have  concurred  in  establishing  their  sway. 

As  it  is  of  the  highest  importance,  therefore,  to  learn  this 
history3  as  well  as  others,  but  as  the  vastness  of  the  subject 
is  a  hinderance  to  the  knowledge  of  it,  and  the  variety  of 
topics  distracts  the  faculty  of  attention,4  I  shall  follow  the 

1  Out  of  proportion  to  its  age]  jEtatem  uUra.  "He  •will  think  that  BO 
much  could  not  have  been  done  in  so  short  a  space  of  time."  Frein&he- 
mius. 

3  Ability]  Virtus.  In  the  same  sense  as  in  Sallnst,  Cat.,  c.  1,  and  else- 
where :  see  the  Notes.  So  Floras,  at  the  commencement  of  c.  3,  says  of 
Tullus  Hostilius,  Cui  in  Jionorem  virtutis  regnum  vitro  datum. 

3  This  history]  Hoc.  I  follow  Duker's  text,  in  which  the  passage  stands 
thus :  Quare  quum  prcecipue  hoc  quoque,  sicut  ccetera,  operce  pretium  sit  cog- 
noscere,  tamen  quia,  etc.  But  it  is  probably  corrupt.  In  some  copies  the 
words  sicut  ccetera  are  wanting,  ana  in  some  the  word  sigillatim  is  found 
after  cognoscere.  Grsevius  conjectures  that  Floras  wrote  Quare  cum  praci/pua 
quteque  c^pera  pretium  sit  cognoscere  sigillatim,  tamen  quia,  etc. 

«  Distracts  the  faculty  of  attention]  Aciem  intentionis  (Lbnanpit.  "  So  we 
Bay  abrumptre  sermonem."  Minellius. 


2V6  FLORUS.  BOOK  r 

example  of  those  who  describe  the  face  of  the  earth,'1  and 
shall  comprise  the  whole  representation  of  the  matter,  as  it 
were,  in  n  small  tablet,  adding  something,  as  I  hope,  to  the 
admiration  with  which  this  eminent  people  are  regarded,  by 
showing  their  whole  grandeur  together  and  at  one  view.  It' 
<-:ny  one,  then,  contemplates  the  Roman  people  as  he  would 
contemplate  a  man,  and  considers  its  whole  age,  how  it  had 
its  origin,  how  it  grew  up,  how  it  arrived  at  a  certain  vigor 
of  manhood,  and  how  it  has  since,  as  it  were,  grown  old,  he 
will  observe  four  degrees  and  stages  of  its  existence.  Its 
first  period  was  under  its  kings,  lasting  nearly  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years,  during  which  it  struggled  round  its  mother 
against  its  neighbors ;  this  was  its  infancy.  Its  next 
period  extended  from  the  consulship  of  Brutus  and  Colla- 
tinus  to  that  of  Appius  Claudius  and  Quintus  Fulvius,  a 
space  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  during  which  it  sub- 
dued Italy ;  this  was  a  time  of  action  for  men  and  arms,  and 
we  may  therefore  call  it  its  youth.  The  next  period  was  one 
of  two  hundred  years,  to  the  time  of  Caesar  Augustus,  in 
which  it  subdued  the  whole  world ;  this  may  accordingly  be 
called  the  manhood,  and  robust  maturity,  of  the  empire. 
From  the  reign  of  Caesar  Augustus  to  our  own  age  is  a  period 
of  little  less  than  two  hundred  years,  in  which,  from  the 
inactivity  of  the  Cresars,  it  has  grown  old  and  lost  its 
strength,  except  that  it  now  raises  its  arms  under  the  em- 
peror Trajan,  and,  contrary  to  the  expectation  of  all,  the  old 
age  of  the  empire,  as  if  youth  were  restored  to  it,  renews  its 
vigor. 

BOOK  L 

CHAP.    I.       OF    KOMULUS,    THE    FIRST  KING    OF   THE    ROMANS. 

The  founder  of  the  city  and  empire  was  Romulus,  the  son 
of  Mars   and   Rhea   Sylvia.      The   priestess,   when    pregnant, 
"  confessed   this    fact   of    herself,   nor   did    report,    soon    after- 
ward, testify  a  doubt  of  it,  as,  being  thrown,  with  his  brother 
Remus,   into    the    river   by  order   of  Amulius,  he    could  not 
be  destroyed;   for  not  only  did  the  Tiber  repress  its  stream, 
but  a  she-wolf,  leaving   her  young,    and   following   the   chil- 
dren's  cries,    offered    her    teats    to    the    infants,    and    acted 
*  Face  of  the  earth]  Terrarum  situs.    Situations  of  places  on  the  earth. 


BOOK  r.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  277 

toward  them  the  part  of  a  mother.  Being  found,  in  these 
circumstances,  under  a  tree,  the  king's  shepherd  carried  them 
into  a  cottage,  and  brought  them  up. 

The  metropolis  of  Latium,  at  that  time,  was  Alba,  built  by 
lulus ;  for  he  had  disdained  Lavinium,  the  city  of  his  father 
jEneas.  Amulius,  the  fourteenth  descendant  from  them,"  was 
now  reigning  there,  having  dethroned  his  brother  Numitor, 
of  whose  daughter  Romulus  was  the  son.  Romulus,  in  the 
first  ardor  of  youth,  drove  Amulius  from  the  citadel,  and 
restored  his  grandfather.  Being  fond,  however,  of  the  river, 
and  of  the  mountains  where  he  had  been  brought  up,  he 
thought  of  founding  among  them  the  walls  of  a  new  city. 
But  as  he  and  his  brother  were  twins,  it  was  resolved  to  con- 
sult the  gods  which  of  the  two  should  commence  the  work, 
and  enjoy  the  sovereignty.  Romulus,  accordingly,  took  his 
station  on  Mount  Aventine,  and  Remus  on  Mount  Palatine. 
Romulus  first  saw  six  vultures ;  Remus  was  behind  him  in 
time,  but  saw  twelve.  Being  thus  superior  in  point  of  au- 
gury, Romulus  proceeded  to  build  the  city,  with  full  expec- 
tation that  it  would  prove  a  warlike  one,  for  so  the  birds, 
accustomed  to  blood  and  prey,  seemed  to  promise. 

For  the  defense  of  the  new  city  a  rampart  appeared  suffi- 
cient. While  Remus  was  deriding  its  diminutiveness,  and 
showing  his  contempt  for  it  by  leaping  over  it,  he  was, 
whether  by  his  brother's  order  is  uncertain,  put  to  death. 
He  was  certainly  the  first  victim,  and  consecrated  the  fortifi- 
cation of  the  new  city  with  his  blood. 

But  Romulus  had  formed  the  idea  of  a  city,  rather  than  a 
real  city ;  for  inhabitants  were  wanting.  In  the  neighbor- 
hood there  was  a  grove,  which  he  made  a  place  of  refuge  ;T 
and  immediately  an  extraordinary  number  of  men,  some 
Latin  and  Tuscan  shepherds,  others  from  beyond  the  seas, 
Phrygians  who  had  come  into  the  country  under  ^Eneas,  and 
Arcadians  under  Evander,  took  up  their  residence  in  it. 
Thus  of  various  elements,  as  it  were,  he  formed  one  body, 
and  was  himself  the  founder  of  the  Roman  people.  But  a 
people  consisting  only  of  men  could  last  but  one  age  ;  wives 
were  therefore  sought  from  the  neighboring  nations,  and,  as 

•  Ch.  I.  From  them]  Ab  Tiis.    That  is  from  ^Eneas  and  lulus.    It  should 
properly  be  abhoc.  From  JEneas  only. 
7  A  place  of  refuge]  Asylum. 


278  FLORUS.  BOOK  i. 

they  were  not  obtained,  were  seized  by  force.  For  a  pre- 
tense being  made  of  celebrating  some  equestrian  games,  the 
young  women  who  came  to  see  them,  became  a  prey ;  and 
this  immediately  gave  rise  to  wars.  The  Vejentes  were 
routed  and  put  to  flight.  The  city  of  the  Cseninenses  was 
taken  and  demolished ;  and  Romulus  also,  with  his  own  hands, 
offered  the  spolia  opima,  taken  from  their  king,  to  Jupiter 
Feretrius.  To  the  Sabines,  the  gates  of  Rome  were  given 
up  by  a  young  woman,  though  not  treacherously ;"  she  had 
asked,  as  a  reward,  what  they  wore  on  their  left  arms,  but 
whether  she  meant  their  shields  or  their  bracelets,  is  doubt- 
ful. They  to  keep  their  word,  and  be  revenged  on  her, 
buried  her  under  their  bucklers.  The  enemy  having  thus 
gained  admission  within  the  walls,  there  ensued,  in  the  very 
forum,  so  desperate  an  engagement,  that  Romulus  entreated 
Jupiter  to  stop  the  shameful  flight  of  his  men  •  and  hence  a 
temple  was  afterward  erected,  and  Jupiter  surnamed  Stator. 
At  last  the  women  who  had  been  carried  off,  rushed,  with 
their  hair  disheveled,  between  the  contending  parties,  and 
separated  them.  Thus  peace  was  made,  and  a  league  estab- 
lished, with  Tatius  ;9  and  a  wonderful  event  followed,  namely, 
that  the  enemy,  leaving  their  habitations,  removed  into 
the  new  city,  and  shared  their  hereditary  property  with  their 
sons-in-law,  as  a  portion  for  their  daughters. 

The  strength  of  the  city  being  soon  increased,  this  most 
wise  monarch  made  the  following  arrangement  in  the  state ; 
that  the  young  men,  divided  into  tribes,  should  be  ready, 
with  horses  and  arms,  for  any  sudden  demands  of  war ;  and 
that  the  administration  of  affairs  should  be  in  the  hands  of 
the  older  men,  who,  from  their  authority,  were  called 
Fathers,  and  from  their  age,  the  Senate.10  When  he  had 
thus  regulated  matters,  and  was  holding  an  assembly  of  the 
people  at  the  lake  of  Caprea,  near  the  city,  he  was  suddenly 
snatched  out  of  their  sight.  Some  think  that  he  was  cut 
to  pieces  by  the  senate,  on  account  of  his  excessive  se- 
verity ;  but  a  tempest  which  then  arose,  and  an  eclipse  of  ( 
the  sun,  were  apparent  proofs  of  his  deification.  This 

•  Not  treacherously]  Nee  dclo.     Floras  means  that  she  intended  no 
treachery  to  her  countrymen,  but  wished  to  rob  or  disarm  the  enemy  by 
depriving  them  of  their  bracelets  or  shields. 

•  Tatius]  King  of  the  Sabines.    Com.  c.  15. 

10  Tho  Senate]  Senabus.    From  series,  old  men. 


BOOK  L  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  279 

opinion  Julius  Proculus  soon  after  confirmed,  asserting  that 
he  had  seen  Romulus  in  a  more  majestic  shape  than  he  had  had 
when  alive ;  that  he  also  commanded  them  to  acknowledge 
him  as  a  deity,  as  it  pleased  the  gods  that  he  should  be  called 
Quirinus  in  heaven;  and  that  thus  Rome  should  have  the 
sovereignty  of  the  world. 

CHAP.  II.     OF  NUMA    POMPILIUS. 

The  successor  of  Romulus  was  Numa  Pompilius,  whom, 
when  he  was  living  at  Cures,  a  town  of  the  Sabines,  the  Ro- 
mans of  their  own  accord  solicited,  on  account  of  his  celebrated 
piety,  to  become  their  king.  It  was  he  who  taught  them  sa- 
cred rites  and  ceremonies,  and  the  whole  worship  of  the  immor- 
tal gods,  and  who  instituted  the  pontiffs,  augurs,  Salii,  and  other 
sacerdotal  offices  among  the  Roman  people.  He  also  divided 
the  year  into  twelve  months,  and  the  days  into  those  for  legal 
business  and  for  vacation.  He  appointed  the  sacred  shields  and 
the  image  of  Pallas,  as  certain  secret  pledges  of  empire ;  and 
ordered  the  temple  of  double-faced  Janus  to  be  the  symbol 
of  peace  and  war.  He  assigned  the  fire  of  Vesta  to  the 
care  of  virgins,  that  its  flame  might  constantly  burn,  in  imi- 
tation of  the  stars  of  heaven,  as  a  guardian  of  the  empire.  All 
these  arrangements  he  pretended  to  make  by  the  advice  of  the 
goddess  Egeria,  that  his  barbarous  subjects  might  more  will- 
ingly submit  to  th  em  In  process  of  time,  he  brought  that  un- 
civilized people  to  such  a  condition  that  they  managed  with 
piety  and  justice  a  government  which  they  had  acquired  by 
violence  and  oppression. 

CHAP.  III.      OF  TULLtJS  HOSTTLItrS. 

To  Numa  Pompilius  succeeded  Tullus  Hostilius,  to  whom  the 
kingdom  was  voluntarily  given  in  honor  of  his  ability.  It  was 
he  that  established  military  discipline,  and  the  whole  art  of  war. 
Having,  therefore,  trained  the  youth  in  an  extraordinary  man- 
ner, he  ventured  to  defy  the  Albans,  a  powerful,  and,  for  a  long 
time,  a  leading  people.  But  as  both  sides,  being  equal  in 
strength,  were  weakened  by  frequent  engagements,  the  fortunes 
of  the  two  people,  to  bring  the  war  to  a  speedier  decision,  were 
committed  to  the  Horatii  and  Curiatii,  three  twin-brothers,  cho- 
sen on  each  side.  It  was  a  doubtful  and  noble  conflict,  and  had 


280  FLORUS.  BOOK  r, 

a  wonderful  termination.  For  after  three  were  wounded  on  ono 
side,  and  two  killed  on  the  other,  the  Horatius  who  survived, 
adding  subtlety  to  valor,  counterfeited  flight  in  order  to  separ- 
ate his  enemies,  and  then,  attacking  them  one  by  one,  as  they 
were  able  to  pursue  him,  overcame  them  all.  Thus  (an  honor 
rarely  attained  by  any  other)  a  victory  was  secured  by  the  hand 
of  one  man.  But  this  victory  he  soon  after  sullied  by  a  mur- 
der. He  had  observed  his  sister  in  tears  at  the  sight  of  the 
spoils  that  he  wore,  which  had  belonged  to  one  of  the  ene- 
my betrothed  to  her,  and  chastised  the  love  of  the  maiden, 
so  unseasonably  manifested,  with  his  sword.  The  laws  call- 
ed for  the  punishment  of  the  crime ;  but  esteem  for  his  val- 
or saved  the  murderer,  and  his  guilt  was  shielded  by  his 
glory. 

The  Alban  people  did  not  long  keep  their  faith  ;  for  being 
called  out,  according  to  the  treaty,  to  assist  the  Romans  in  the 
war  against  Fidense,  they  stood  neutral  betwixt  the  two  parties, 
waiting  for  a  turn  of  fortune.  But  the  crafty  king  of  the  Ro- 
mans, seeing  his  allies  ready  to  side  with  the  enemy,  roused  the 
courage  of  his  army,  pretending  that  he  had  ordered  them  so 
to  act ;  hence  hope  arose  in  the  breasts  of  our  men,  and  fear  in 
those  of  the  enemy.  The  deceit  of  the  traitors  was  accordingly 
without  effect ;  and,  after  the  enemy  was  conquered,  Tullus 
caused  Metius  Fufetius,  as  a  breaker  of  the  league,  to  be  tied  be- 
tween two  chariots,  and  torn  in  pieces  by  swift  horses.  Alba 
itself,  which,  though  the  parent  of  Rome,  was  nevertheless  its 
rival,  he  demolished,  but  previously  removed  all  the  wealth  of 
the  place,  and  the  inhabitants  themselves,  to  Rome,  that  thus  a 
kindred  city  might  seem  not  to  have  been  destroyed,  but  to 
have  been  re-united  to  its  own  body. 

CHAP.  IV.     OF  ANCUS  MARCIUS. 

Next  reigned  Ancus  Marcius,  a  grandson  of  Numa  Pompilius, 
and  of  a  similar  disposition.  He  encompassed  the  city11  with  a 
wall,  made  a  bridge  over  the  Tiber,  that  flows  through  the 
town,  and  settled  the  colony  of  Ostia  at  the  junction  of  the  river 
with  the  sea ;  even  then,  apparently,  feeling  a  presentiment,  that 

11  Ch.  IV.  The  city]  Mcenia  muro  ampkxus  est.  "That  mcema  is  often 
used  for  the  buildings  m  cities,  is  shown  by  Salinas,  ad  Lamprid.  Commod.. 
c.  17  ;  Schulting.  ad  Senec.  Controv.,  vi. ;  and  Gronov.  Oba.,  ii.  12." 
Dukw. 


BOOK  r.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  IIICTORY.  231 

the  riches  and  supplies  of  the  whole  world  would  be  brought  to 
that  maritime  store-house  of  the  city. 

• 

CHAP.  V.     OF  TARQUINIUS  PRISCUS. 

Afterward,  Tarquinius  Priscus,  though  sprung  from  a  coun- 
try beyond  the  sea,  making  application  for  the  throne,  obtained 
it  through  his  industry  and  accomplishments  ;  for,  having  been 
born  at  Corinth,  he  had  joined  to  his  Grecian  wit  the  arts  of 
Italy.  This  ting  increased  the  authority  of  the  senate  by  add~ 
ing  to  its  number,  and  augmented  the  tribes  with  additional 
centuries;  for  Attius  Njevius,  a  man  eminent  in  augury,  forbade 
their  number  to  be  increased.  The  king,  for  a  trial  of  Na3vius's 
skill,  asked  him  if  that  which  he  had  conceived  in  his  mind  could 
be  done  ?  The  other,  having  tried  the  question  by  augury,  an- 
swered that  it  could.  I  was  thinking  then,  replied  the  king, 
whether  I  could  cut  this  whetstone  with  my  razor.  You  can, 
then,  rejoined  the  augur  ;  and  the  king  cut  it.  Hence  augury 
came  to  be  a  sacred  institution  among  the  Romans. 

Nor  was  the  ability  of  Tarquinius  greater  in  peace  than  in 
war ;  for  he  reduced,  by  frequent  attacks,  the  twelve  tribes 
of  Etruria,  from  whom  were  adopted  the  fasces,  robes  of  state, 
curule-chairs,  rings,  horse-trappings,  military  cloaks,  and  the 
gown  called  proetexta.  Hence  also  came  the  custom  of  riding 
in  triumph,  in  a  gilded  chariot,  with  four  horses ;  as  well  as 
embroidered  togaB,  and  striped  tunics ;  and,  in  fine,  all  orna- 
ments and  marks  of  distinction  by  which  regal  dignity  is  render- 
ed imposing. 

CHAP.  VI.       OF  SERVIUS  TULLIUS. 

Servius  Tullius  was  the  next  that  assumed  the  government ; 
nor  was  the  meanness  of  his  extraction  any  hinderance  to  his 
exaltation,  though  he  was  the  son  of  a  female  slave.  For  Tana- 
quil,  the  wife  of  Tarquinius  Priscus,  had  improved  his  talents, 
which  were  extraordinary,  by  a  liberal  education  ;  and  a  flame, 
that  had  been  seen  surrounding  his  head,  had  portended  that 
he  would  be  famous.  Being,  therefore,  on  the  death  of  Tar- 
quinius, put  in  the  king's  place,  by  the  aid  of  the  queen  (as  if 
merely  for  a  time),  he  exercised  the  government  thus  fraud- 
ulently obtained,  with  such  effect,  that  he  seemed  to  have  ob- 
tained it  by  right.  By  this  king  the  Roman  people  were  sub- 


282  FLORUS. 

mitted  to  a  census,  disposed  into  classes,  and  divided  into  curice 
and  companies;  and,  through  his  eminent  ability,  the  whole 
commonwealth  was  so  regulated,  that  all  distinctions  of  estate, 
dignity,  age,  employments,  and  offices,  were  committed  to  re- 
gisters, and  a  great  city  was  governed  with  all  the  exactness  of 
the  smallest  family. 

CHAP.  VII.     OF  TARQUINIUS  SUPERBUS. 

The  last  of  all  the  kings  was  Tarquinius,  to  whom  the  name 
of  Superbus,  or  the  Proud,  was  given  on  account  of  his  deport- 
ment. He  chose  rather  to  seize  by  violence,  than  patiently  to 
wait  for,  the  kingdom  of  his  grandfather,  which  was  held  from 
him  by  Servius,  and,  having  set  some  assassins  to  murder  him, 
managed  the  power,  obtained  by  crime,  not  more  justly  than  he 
gained  it.  Nor  did  his  wife  Tullia  differ  from  him  in  disposi- 
tion ;  for,  to  salute  her  husband  king,  as  she  was  riding  in  her 
chariot,  she  drove  her  startled  horses  over  the  blood-stained 
corpse  of  her  father.  He  himself  offended  the  senate  by  putting 
some  of  them  to  death,  disgusted  the  whole  nation  by  his  pride 
(which,  to  men  of  right  feelings,  is  more  intolerable  than  cruel- 
ty), and  after  glutting  his  inhumanity  at  home,  turned  at  length 
against  his  enemies.  Thus  the  strong  towns  in  Latium  were 
taken,  Ardea,  Ocriculum,  Gabii,  Suessa,  Pometia. 

He  was  also  cruel  to  his  own  family ;  for  he  scrupled  not 
to  scourge  his  son,  in  order  that  he  might  gain  credit  with 
the  enemy  when  feigning  himself  a  deserter.  This  son,  being 
received,  as  he  had  wished,  at  Gabii,  and  consulting  his  father 
what  he  desired  to  have  done,  the  father  answered  (what  pride  !) 
by  striking  off/2  with  his  staff,  the  heads  of  some  poppies 
that  chanced  to  grow  higher  than  the  rest,  wishing  it  thence 
to  be  understood  that  the  chief  men  at  Gabii  were  to  be  put  to 
death. 

From  the  spoils  of  the  captured  cities,  however,  he  built  a 
temple,  at  the  consecration  of  which,  though  the  other  gods 

IS  The  father  answered  (what  pride  !)  by  striking  off,  etc.]  Excutiens — 
(qum  superbla  !)  sic  respondit.  "  Florus,  in  ascribing  this  to  pride,  speaks 
rather  with  reference  to  Tarquinius'  general  character  for  pride,  than  ac- 
cording to  what  was  really  the  case  on  this  occasion j  for  it  was  rather  to  be 
attributed  to  prudence,  in  order  to  prevent  his  designs  from  being  betray- 
ed." Gravius.  There  is  a  similar  misrepresentation  a  little  above,  where 
the  scourging  of  Sextus  Tarquinius,  which  was  merely  a  stratagem,  is  at- 
tributed to  his  father's  cruelty. 


BOOK  L  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  283 

gave  up  their  ground,  Juventus  and  Terminus,  strange  to  say, 
stood  firm.  Yet  the  obstinacy  of  these  deities  pleased  the 
augurs,  as  it  promised  that  all  would  be  firm  and  enduring. 
But  what  was  extremely  surprising,  was,  that  at  the  foundation 
of  the  edifice  a  human  head  was  found  by  the  builders ;  and 
all  were  persuaded  that  this  was  a  most  favorable  omen,  por- 
tending that  the  seat  of  empire,  and  supreme  head  of  the  world, 
would  be  in  that  place. 

The  Roman  people  tolerated  the  pride  of  this  king,  as  long 
as  lust  was  not  united  with  it ;  but  this  additional  oppression 
they  were  not  able  to  endure  on  the  part  of  his  sons,  one  of 
whom  having  offered  violence  to  Lucretia,  a  most  excellent  ma- 
tron, she  put  an  end  to  her  dishonor  by  killing  herself.  All 
power  was  then  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  kings. 

CHAP.    VIII.       A    RECAPITULATION    OF    THE    ACTS    OF    THE    SEVEN 

KINGS. 

This  is  the  first  age,  and,  as  it  were,  infancy,  of  the  Roman 
people,  which  it  had  under  seven  kings,  who,  by  a  certain  con- 
trivance of  the  fates,  were  as  various  in  their  dispositions  as  the 
nature  and  advantage  of  the  commonwealth  required.  Who 
•was  more  daring  than  Romulus  ?  Such  a  man  was  necessary 
to  hold  the  government.  Who  was  more  religious  than 
Numa?  Circumstances  required  that  he  should  be  so,  in  order 
that  a  barbarous  people  might  be  softened  by  fear  of  the  gods. 
What  sort  of  man  was  Tullus,  that  author  of  military  discipline  ? 
How  necessary  to  warlike  spirits,  that  he  might  improve  their 
valor  by  discipline !  What  kind  of  king  was  the  architect 
Ancus  ?  How  fitted  to  extend  the  city  by  means  of  a  colony, 
to  unite  it  by  a  bridge,  and  secure  it  by  a  wall !  The  decora- 
tions and  insignia  of  Tarquinius,  too,  how  much  dignity  did 
they  add  to  this  great  people  from  the  very  dress  !  What  did 
the  census  instituted  by  Servius  effect,  but  that  the  state  should 
know  its  own  strength  ?  Lastly,  the  tyrannic  government  of 
the  proud  Tarquin  produced  some  good,  and  indeed  a  great 
deal ;  for  it  came  to  pa&s,  by  means  of  it,  that  the  people,  exas- 
perated by  wrongs,  were  inflamed  with  a  desire  of  liberty. 

CHAP.  IX.   OF  THE  CHANGE  OF  GOVERNMENT. 

Under  the  conduct  and  guidance  of  Brutus  and   Collatinus, 


284  PLORUS.  BOOK  i. 

therefore,  to  whom  the  dying  matron  had  recommended  tlio 
avenging  of  her  cause,  the  Roman  people,  incited  apparently  by 
some  impulse  from  the  gods,  to  vindicate  the  honor  of  insulted 
liberty  and  chastity,  suddenly  deserted  the  king,  made  spoil  of 
his  property,  consecrated  his  land  to  their  god  Mars,  and  trans- 
ferred the  government  to  the  hands  of  those  assertors  of  their 
.liberty,13  with  a  change  only  of  its  power  and  name;  for  they 
resolved  that  it  should  be  held,  not  for  life,  but  only  for  a  year, 
and  that  there  should  be  two  rulers  instead  of  one,  lest  the  au- 
thority, by  being  vested  in  a  single  person,  or  by  being  retained 
too  long,  might  be  abused ;  and,  instead  of  kings,  they  called 
them  consuls,  that  they  might  remember  they  were  to  consult 
the  welfare  of  their  citizens.  So  great  exultation,  on  account 
of  their  newly-recovered  liberty,  took  possession  of  them,  that 
they  scarcely  believed  they  could  carry  their  change  of  condi- 
tion far  enough,  and  deprived  one  of  the  consuls  of  his  office, 
and  expelled  him  from  the  city,  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
his  name  and  family  were  the  same  as  those  of  the  kings. 
Valerius  Publicola,  accordingly,  being  elected  in  his  place,  used 
his  utmost  endeavors  to  advance  the  dignity  of  the  liberated 
people ;  for  he  lowered  the  fasces  before  them  at  a  public  assem- 
bly, and  gave  them  the  right  of  hearing  appeals  against  the 
consuls  themselves.  He  also  removed  his  house,  which  stodfl. 
upon  an  eminence,  into  the  level  parts  of  the  town,  that  he 
might  not  offend  the  people  by  appearing  to  occupy  a  fortress. 
Brutus,  meanwhile,  endeavored  to  gain  the  favor  of  the  citizens 
by  the  destruction  and  slaughter  of  his  own  family ;  for  finding 
that  his  sons  were  endeavoring  to  bring  back  the  royal  family 
into  the  city,  he  brought  them  into  the  forum,  and  caused 
them,  in  the  midst  of  an  assembly  of  the  people,  to  be  scourged 
with  rods,  and  then  beheaded ;  in  order  that  he  might  seem,  as 
a  parent  of  the  public,  to  have  adopted  the  people,  in  the  room 
of  his  own  children. 

The  Roman  people,  being  now  free,  took  up  arms  against 
other  nations,  first,  to  secure  their  liberty,  next,  for  the  acquisi- 
tion of  territory,  afterward  in  support  of  their  allies,  and,  finally, 
for  glory  and  empire.  Their  neighbors,  on  every  side,  were 
continually  harassing  them,  as  they  had  no  land  of  their  own 
(the  very  pomoerium  belonging  to  the  enemy14),  and  as  they 

19  Assertors  of  their  liberty]  Brutus  and  Collatinus. 

14  Ch.  IX.  The  very  pomoerium  belonging  to  the  enemy]  Statim 


BOOK  L  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  285 

were  situated,  as  it  were,  at  the  junction  of  the  roads  to  Latium 
and  Etruria,  and,  at  whatever  gate  they  went  out,  were  sure  to 
meet  a  foe.  At  length,  as  if  in  a  certain  destined  course,16  they 
proceeded  against  their  opponents  one  after  another,  and,  sub- 
duing always  the  nearest,  reduced  all  Italy  under  their  sway. 

CHAP.    X.       THE    WAR    WITH    PORSENA.  j 

After  the  royal  family  was  expelled,  the  first  war  that  the  people 
mude  was  in  defense  of  their  liberty ;  for  Porsena,  king  of 
Etruria,  came  against  them  with  a  large  army,  designing  to 
restore  the  Tarquins  by  force.  Yet,  though  he  pressed  them 
Lard  both  with  arms  and  with  famine,  and  seizing  the  Jani- 
culum,  occupied  the  very  entrance  to  the  city,  they  withstood 
and  repelled  him,  and  struck  him,  at  last,  with  such  amazement, 
that,  though  he  had  the  advantage,16  he  of  his  own  accord  con- 
cluded a  treaty  of  friendship  with  those  whom  he  had  almost 
conquered.  Then  appeared  those  Roman  prodigies  and  won- 
ders, Horatius,  Mucius,  and  Clrelia,  who,  if  they  were  not  re- 
corded in  our  annals,  would  now  appear  fabulous  characters. 
For  Horatius,  being  unable  alone  to  repel  the  enemies  that 
pressed  him  on  all  sides,  swam  across  the  Tiber  after  the  bridge 
was  broken  down,  without  letting  go  his  arms.  Mutius  Scae- 
vola,  by  a  stratagem,  made  an  attempt  on  the  king  in  the  midst 
of  his  camp,  but  having  stabbed  one  of  his  courtiers  by  mistake, 
and  being  seized,  he  thrust  his  hand  into  a  fire  that  was  burn- 
ing there,  and  increased  the  king's  terror  by  a  piece  of  craft, 
saying,  "that  you  may  know  what  a  man  you  have  escaped, 
three  hundred  of  us  have  sworn  to  the  same  undertaking ;" 
while,  strange  to  relate,  Mucius  himself  stood  unmoved,  and  the 
king  shuddered,  as  if  his  own  hand  had  been  burning.  Thus  the 
men  displayed  their  valor ;  but  that  the  other  sex  might  not 
want  its  praise,  there  was  a  like  spirit  among  the  young  wo- 
men ;  for  Clceiia,  one  of  the  hostages  given  to  the  king,  having 
escaped  from  her  keepers,  crossed  the  river  of  her  country  on 
horseback.  The  king,  in  consequence,  being  struck  with  so 

pomcervum.  Pomcerium  here  means  the  ground  immediately  outside  the 
wall. 

14  Certain  destined  course]  Contagion*  g-uadam.  Thus  Cicero  uses  con- 
ta<jio  for  the  natural  connection  of  causes  and  effects,  natural  wntagio,  ipsa 
rertim  confsigio,  De  Fato,  e.  3,  4. 

14  Ch.  X.  Though  he  had  the  advantage]  Superior.  This  does  not  agree 
well  with  repulU,  "  repulsed  him,"  just  above. 


286  FLORUS.  roosi. 

many   and  so  great  prodigies   of  valor,   bid    them    farewell, 
and  left  them  free. 

The  Tarquins  continued  the  war,  till  Brutus,  with  his  own 
hand,  killed  Aruns,  the  king's  son,  and  fell  dead  upon  his  body 
of  a  wound  received  from  his  adversary,  as  if  he  would  pursue 
the  adulterer  even  to  Tartarus. 


CHAP.    XI.     OF    THE    WAE    WITH    THE    LATINS. 

The  Latins  also  took  part  with  the  Tarquins,  out  of  rivalry 
and  envy  toward  the  Romans,  desiring  that  a  people,  who  ruled 
abroad,  might  at  least  be  slaves  at  home.  All  Latium,  accord- 
ingly, under  the  leadership  of  Mamilius  of  Tusculum,  roused 
their  spirits  as  if  to  avenge  the  king's  cause.  They  came  to  a 
battle  near  lake  Regillus,  where  success  was  for  a  long  time 
doubtful,  till  Posthumius,  the  dictator,  threw  a  standard  among 
the  enemy  (a  new  and  remarkable  stratagem)  that  it  might  be 
recovered  by  rushing  into  the  midst  of  them.  Cossus,17  the 
master  of  the  horse,  too,  ordered  the  cavalry  to  take  off  their 
bridles  (this  was  also  a  new  contrivance)  that  they  might  attack 
with  greater  force.  Such  at  last  was  the  desperateness  of  the 
engagement,  that  fame  reported  two  of  the  gods,  on  white 
horses,  to  have  been  present  to  view  it,  and  it  was  universally 
believed  that  they  were  Castor  and  Pollux.  The  Roman  gen- 
eral accordingly  worshiped  them,  and,  on  condition  of  gaining 
the  victory,  promised  them  temples  ;  a  promise  which  he  after- 
ward performed,  as  payment  to  the  gods  who  assisted  him. 

Thus  far  they  contended  for  liberty.  Afterward  they  fought 
with  the  same  Latins,  perseveringly  and  without  intermission, 
about  the  boundaries  of  their  territory.  Sora  (who  would 
believe  it?)  and  Algidum  were  a  terror  to  them.  Satricum 
and  Corniculum  were  provinces.  Of  Verulae  and  Bovilla?  I  am 
ashamed  to  speak;  but  we  triumphed.  Tibur,  now  a  portion 
of  the  suburbs,  and  Praneste,  a  pleasant  summer  residence, 
were  not  attacked  till  vows  for  success  had  been  offered  in  the 
Capitol.  Fasulae  was  as  much  to  us  as  Carrae18  was  of  late  ;. 

17  Ch.  XI.  Cossus]  "Floras  has  erroneously  said  Cossus  instead  of  Titus 
jEbutius  Elva.  Cossus  was  master  of  the  horse  under  the  Dictator  ./Ernilius 
Mamercinus,  A.IJ.C.  327."  Studius.  "  That  Florus  has  made  a  mistake  is 
admitted  by  all  except  Eobertellus,  who  would  expunge  the  word 
"  Cossus.' "  Freinshemius, 

'•  Carrae]  A  city  of  Osroene  in  Mesopotamia,  where  Crassus  was  killed. 
See  iii.  11. 


BOOK  L  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  287 

the  grove  of  Aricia  was  as  considerable  as  the  Hercynian  forest, 
Fregellae  as  Gesoriacum,19  the  Tiber20  as  the  Euphrates.  That 
Corioli  was  taken,  was  thought  (disgraceful  to  relate)  such  a 
cause  for  triumph,  that  Caius  Marcius  Coriolanus  added  a 
name  from  the  captured  town  to  his  own,  as  if  he  had  subdued 
Numantia  or  Africa.  There  are  extant  also  spoils  taken  from 
Antium,  which  Maenius  put  up  on  the  rostra  in  the  forum,  after 
capturing  the  enemy's  fleet,  if  a  fleet,  indeed  it  could  be  called  ; 
for  there  were  only  six  beaked  vessels.  But  this  number,  in 
those  early  times,  was  sufficient  for  a  naval  war. 

The  most  obstinate  of  the  Latins,  however,  were  the  ^Equi 
and  Volsci,  who  were,  as  I  may  say,  daily  enemies.  But  these 
were  chiefly  subdued  by  Lucius  Quintius,  the  dictator  taken 
from  the  plow,  who,  by  his  eminent  bravery,  saved  the  camp 
of  the  consul,  Lucius  Minucius,  when  it  was  besieged  and 
almost  taken.  It  happened  to  be  about  the  middle  of  seed- 
time, when  the  lictor  found  the  patrician  leaning  on  his  plow 
in  the  midst  of  his  labor.  Marching  from  thence  into  the 
field,  he  made  the  conquered  enemies,  that  he  might  not  cease 
from  the  imitation  of  country  work,  pass  like  cattle  under  the 
yoke.  His  expedition  being  thus  concluded,  the  triumphant 
husbandman  returned  to  his  oxen,  and,  O  faith  of  the  gods, 
with  what  speed  !  for  the  war  was  begun  and  ended  within 
fifteen  days  ;  so  that  the  dictator  seemed  to  have  hastened  back 
to  resume  the  work  which  he  had  quitted. 

CHAP.    XII.     THE    WARS    WITH    THE    ETRURIANS,    FALISCI,    AND 
FIDENATES. 

The  Vejentes,  on  the  side  of  Etruria,  were  continual  enemies 
of  the  Romans,  attacking  them  every  year ;  so  that  the  single 
family  of  the  Fabii  offered  extraordinary  assistance,  and  carried 
on  a  private  war  against  them.  But  the  slaughter  that  befel) 
them  was  sufficiently  memorable.  Three  hundred  (an  army  of 
tpatricians)  were  slain  at  Cremera,  and  the  gate  that  let  them 
pass,  when  they  were  proceeding  to  battle,  was  stigmatized  with 

18  Gesoriacum]  A  harbor  of  the  Morini  in  Gaul,  afterward  called  Bc- 
nonia. 

m  The  Tiber]  Tiberis.  This  can  hardly  be  right,  though  it  has  been  gen- 
erally adopted  for  the  old  reading  Tigris.  Florus  would  scarcely  have  in- 
stanced the  river  that  actually  ran  through  the  city.  Davics,  in  his  trans- 
lation, has  Llris. 


288  FLORUS.  BOOK  i. 

the  name  of  wicked.  But  that  slaughter  was  expiated  by  great 
victories,  the  enemies'  strongest  towns  being  reduced  by  one 
general  after  another,  though  in  various  methods.  The  Falisci- 
surrendered  of  their  own  accord ;  the  Fidenates  were  burned 
with  their  own  fire ;  the  Vejentes  were  plundered  and  utterly 
destroyed. 

During  the  siege  of  the  Falisci,  an  instance  of  honor  on  the 
part  of  the  Roman  general  was  regarded  as  wonderful,  and  &ot 
without  justice ;  for  he  sent  back  to  them,  with  his  hands 
bound  behind  him,  a  schoolmaster  who  intended  to  betray  their 
city,  with  some  boys  whom  he  had  brought  with  him.  Being 
an  upright  and  wise  man,  he  knew  that  that  only  was  a  true 
victory  which  was  gained  with  inviolate  faith  and  untainted 
honor.  The  people  of  Fidena3,  not  being  a  match  for  the 
Romans  with  the  sword,  armed  themselves  with  torches  and 
party-colored  fillets  resembling  serpents,  in  order  to  excite 
terror  in  the  enemy,  and  marched  out  against  them  like 
madmen ;  but  their  dismal  dress  was  only  an  omen  of  their 
destruction.  How  great  the  strength  of  the  Vejentes  was,  a 
ten-years'  siege  proves.  It  was  then  that  the  Roman  soldiers 
first  wintered  under  skins,  while  the  extraordinary  winter  labor 
was  recompensed  with  pay,  and  the  soldiers  were  voluntarily 
bound  by  an  oath  not  to  return  till  the  city  was  taken.  The 
spoils  of  Lars  Tolumnius,  the  king  of  the  Vejentes,  were  offered 
to  Jupiter  Feretrius.  The  destruction  of  the  city  was  at  last 
effected,  not  by  scaling-ladders,  nor  by  a  breach  in  the  walls, 
but  by  a  mine,  and  stratagems  under  ground.  The  spoil  was 
thought  so  great,  that  the  tenth  was  sent  to  the  Pythian 
Apollo,  and  the  whole  Roman  people  were  called  out  to  share 
in  the  pillage.  Such  was  Veil  at  that  time ;  who  now  remem- 
bers that  it  existed  ?  what  relic  or  vestige  is  left  of  it  ?  Even 
the  trustworthiness  of  our  annals  can  hardly  make  us  believe 
that  Veii  ever  had.  a  being. 


CHAP.    XIII.      OF    THE    WAR    WITH    THE    GAULS. 

At  this  point,  whether  through  the  envy  of  the  gods,  or  the 
appointment  of  fate,  the  rapid  progress  of  the  advancing 
empire  was  stopped,  for  a  short  time,  by  an  invasion  of  the 
Galli  Senones.  Whether  this  period  were  more  hurtful  to  the 
Romans  by  the  disasters  which  it  caused  them,  or  more  glorioux 


BOOK  L  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  289 

by  the  proofs  which  it  gave  of  their  valor,  I  am  unable  to  tell. 
Such,  however,  was  the  violence  of  the  calamity,  that  I  must 
suppose  it  inflicted  upon  them,  by  divine  Providence,  for  a 
trial  of  their  spirit,  the  immortal  gods  desiring  to  know  whether 
the  conduct  of  the  Romans  would  merit  the  empire  of  the 
world.  The  Galli  Senones  were  a  nation  naturally  fierce,  and 
rude  in  manners ;  and,  from  the  vastness  of  their  bodies,  and 
the  corresponding  weight  of  their  arms,  so  formidable  in  all 
respects,  that  they  seemed  evidently  born  for  the  destruction  of 
men  and  the  depopulation  of  cities.  Coming  originally  from 
the  remotest  parts  of  the  earth,  and  the  ocean  that  surrounds 
all,  and  having  wasted  every  thing  in  their  way,  they  settled 
between  the  Alps  and  the  Po ;  but  not  content  with  this  posi- 
tion, they  wandered  up  and  down  Italy,  and  were  now  besieging 
the  town  of  Clusium.  The  Romans  interposed  on  behalf  of 
their  allies  and  confederates,  by  sending,  according  to  their 
custom,  embassadors.  But  what  regard  to  justice  was  to  be 
expected  from  barbarians  ?  They  only  grew  more  daring ;  and 
hence  arose  a  conflict.  After  they  had  broken  up  from  Clu- 
sium, and  were  marching  toward  Rome,  Fabius,  the  consul, 
met  them  at  the  river  Allia  with  an  army.  Scarcely  ever  was 
there  a  more  disgraceful  defeat ;  and  Rome  has  therefore  set  a 
damnatory  mark  on  this  day  in  its  calendar.  The  Roman  army 
being  routed,  the  Gauls  approached  the  city.  Garrison  there 
was  none ;  but  then,  or  never,  true  Roman  courage  showed 
itself.  In  the  first  place  the  elder  men,  who  had  borne  the 
highest  offices,  met  together  in  the  forum,  where,  the  high- 
priest  performing  the  ceremony  of  devotion,  they  consecrated 
themselves  to  the  infernal  gods ;  and  immediately  afterward 
returning,  each  to  his  own  house,  they  seated  themselves, 
dressed  as  they  were  in  their  long  robes  and  richest  ornaments, 
on  their  curule  chairs,  that,  when  the  enemy  came,  they  might 
die  with  proper  dignity. 

The  high-priests  and  flamens,31  taking  whatever  was  most 
sacred  in  the  temples,  hid  part  of  it  in  casks  buried  in  the 
earth,  and  carried  part  away  with  them  in  wagons.  The 
virgins  of  the  priesthood  of  Vesta,  at  the  same  time,  followed, 
with  their  feet  bare,  their  sacred  things  as  they  were  conveyed 

31  ffiament]  Flamines.  A  Flamtn  was  a  priest  appointed  to  any  particular 
deity ;  as  theflamen  of  Jupiter,  th&Jlamen  of  Mars,  etc.  It  is  a  word  of 
t^n certain  derivation,  but  probably  forplamen  or  ptteamen,  from  the  pikut, 
or  CM;),  which  tlicy  wore.  Sec  Dion.  Halicarn.,  ii.  64. 

13 


290  FLORUS.  BOOK  t 

from  the  city.  But  Lucius  Albinus,  one  of  the  common  people, 
is  said  to  have  assisted  them  in  their  flight ;  for,  setting  down 
his  wife  and  children,  he  took  up  the  virgins  into  his  vehicle ; 
so  much,  even  in  their  utmost  extremity,  did  regard  for  the 
public  religion  prevail  over  private  affections. 

A  band  of  the  youth  (which,  it  is  certain,  scarcely  amounted 
to  a  thousand)  took  their  position,  under  the  command  of 
Manlius,  in  the  citadel  on  the  Capitoline  mount,  entreating 
Jupiter  himself,  as  if  present  in  the  place,  that  "  as  they  had 
united  to  defend  his  temple,  he  would  support  their  efforts  with 
his  power."  The  Gauls,  meantime,  came  up,  and  finding  the 
city  open,  were  at  first  apprehensive  that  some  stratagem  was 
intended,  but  soon  after,  perceiving  nobody  in  it,  they  rushed  in 
with  shouting  and  impetuosity.  They  entered  the  houses, 
which  in  all  parts  stood  open,  where  they  worshiped  the  aged 
senators,  sitting  in  their  robes  on  their  curule  chairs,  as  if  they 
had  been  gods  and  genii ;  but  afterward,  when  it  appeared  that 
they  were  men  (otherwise  deigning  to  answer  nothing),"  they 
massacred  them  with  cruelty  equal  to  their  former  veneration. 
They  then  threw  burning  brands  on  the  houses,  and  with  fire, 
sword,  and  the  labor  of  their  hands,  leveled  the  city  with  the 
ground.  But  round  the  single  Capitoline  mount,  the  barbarians 
(who  would  believe  it?)  were  detained  six  months,  though 
making  every  effort,  not  only  by  day  but  by  night,  to  reduce 
it.  At  length,  as  some  of  them  were  making  an  ascent  in  the 
night-time,  Manlius,  being  awakened  by  the  gabbling  of  a 
goose,  hurled  them  down  from  the  top  of  the  rock;  and,  to 
<!<!'>rive  the  enemy  of  all  hope  of  success,  and  make  a  show  of 
confidence  on  his  own  part,  he  threw  out  some  loaves  of  bread, 
\hough  he  was  in  great  want,  from  the  citadel.  On  a  certain 
fixed  day,  too,  he  sent  out  Fabius,  the  high-priest,  from  the 
citadel,  through  the  midst  of  the  enemy's  guards,  to  perform  a 
solemn  sacrifice  on  the  Quirinal  hill.  Fabius,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  religion,  returned  safe  through  the  weapons  of  the 
enemy,  and  reported  that  "  the  gods  were  propitious."  At  last, 
when  the  length  of  their  siege  had  tired  the  barbarians,  and 
when  they  were  offering  to  depart  for  a  thousand  pounds  of 

53  Ch.  XIII.  Otherwise  deigning  to  answer  nothing]  Alioqui  nihil  reapon- 
dere  dignantes.  The  exact  signification  of  the  word  alioq-ui,  1$,  as  Duker  ob- 
serves, "sufficiently  obscure."  N.  Heinsius,  by  a  happy  conjecture,  alters 
it  into  alloqui  which  (with  the  preceding  vbi  changed  mto  ibi)  makes  excel- 
lent sense. 


BOOK  I.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  291 

gold  (making  that  offer,  however,  in  an  insolent  manner, 
throwing  a  sword  into  the  scale  with  unfair  weights,  and 
proudly  crying  out,  "  Woe  to  the  conquered  !")  Camillas  sud- 
denly attacking  them  in  the  rear,  made  such  a  slaughter  of 
them  as  to  wash  out  all  traces  of  the  fire  with  an  inundation 
of  Gallic  blood.  But  with  pleasure  may  we  give  thanks  to  the 
immortal  gods  on  the  very  account  of  this  great  destruction ; 
for  that  fire  buried  the  cottages  of  the  shepherds,  and  that 
flame  hid  the  poverty  of  Romulus.  What,  indeed,  was  the 
eiFect  of  that  conflagration,  but  that  a  city,  destined  for  the  seat 
of  men  and  gods,  should  not  seem  to  have  been  destroyed  or 
overthrown,  but  rather  cleansed  and  purified  ?  After  being 
defended,  therefore,  by  Manlius,  and  restored  by  Camillus,  it 
rose  up  again,  with  still  more  vigor  and  spirit,  against  the 
neighboring  people.  But  first  of  all,  not  content  with  having 
expelled  the  Gauls  from  their  city,  they  so  closely  pursued  them 
under  the  conduct  of  Camillus,  as  they  were  dragging  their 
broken  remains  up  and  down  through  Italy,  that  at  this  day 
not  a  trace  of  the  Senones  is  left  in  the  country.  On  one  occa- 
sion, there  was  a  slaughter  of  them  at  the  river  Anio,  when 
Manlius,  in  a  single  combat,  took  from  a  barbarian,  among 
other  spoils,  a  golden  chain  ;  and  hence  was  the  name  of  the 
Torquati.23  On  another  occasion  they 'were  defeated  in  the 
Pomptine  territory,  when  Lucius  Valerius,  in  a  similar  combat, 
being  assisted  by  a  sacred  bird  sitting  upon  his  helmet,  carried 
off  the  spoils  of  his  enemy ;  and  hence  came  the  name  of  the 
Corvini.  At  last  Dolabella,  some  years  afterward,  cut  off  all 
that  remained  of  them  at  the  lake  Vadimo  in  Etruria,  that  none 
of  that  nation  might  survive  to  boast  that  Rome  had  been 
burned  by  them. 


CHAP.   XIV.      THE  LATIN  WAR. 

In  the  consulship  of  Manlius  Torquatus  and  Decius  Mus,  the 
Romans  turned  from  the  Gauls  upon  the  Latins,  a  people 
t:lways  ready  to  attack  them  from  rivalry  for  empire,  and  now 
from  contempt  for  the  burned  state  of  the  city.  They  de- 
manded that  the  right  of  citizenship  should  be  granted  them, 
rud  a  participation  in  the  government  and  public  offices;  and 

53  Torquati]  From  torques,  a  chain  or  collar  for  the  neck.     Corvini  from 
corvus,  a  raven. 


292  FLORUS.  BOOK  i. 

presumed  that  they  could  now  do  something  more  than  struggle 
for  these  privileges.  But  who  will  wonder  that  the  enemy 
should  then  have  yielded,  when  one  of  the  consuls  put  his  own 
son  to  death,  for  fighting,  though  successfully,  contrary  to 
orders,  as  if  there  were  more  merit  in  observing  command  than 
in  gaining  a  victory ;  and  the  other,  as  if  by  the  admonition  of 
the  gods,  devoted  himself,  with  his  face  covered,  and  in  front 
of  the  army,  to  the  infernal  deities,  so  that,  casting  himself 
into  the  thickest  of  the  enemy's  weapons,  he  opened  a  new 
way  to  victory  by  the  track  of  his  own  blood. 


CHAP.    XV.       THE    SABINE    WAR. 

After  the  Latins,  they  attacked  the  nation  of  the  Sabines, 
who,  unmindful  of  the  alliance  contracted  under  Titus  Tatius, 
had  united  themselves,  by  some  contagion  of  war,  to  the  Latins. 
But  the  Romans,  under  Curius  Dentatus,  their  consul,  laid 
waste,  with  fire  and  sword,  all  that  tract  which  the  Nar  and 
the  springs  of  Velinus  inclose,  as  far  as  the  Adriatic  sea.  By 
which  success  such  a  number  of  people  and  such  an  extent  of 
territory,  was  brought  under  their  jurisdiction,  that  even  he 
who  had  made  the  conquest  could  not  tell  which  was  of  the 
greater  importance. 

CHAP.    XVI.       THE    SAMNITE    WAR. 

Being  then  moved  by  the  entreaties  of  Campania,  they  at- 
tacked the  Samnites,  not  on  their  own  account,  but,  what  is 
more  honorable,  on  that  of  their  allies.  A  league  had  indeed 
been  made  with  both  those  nations,  but  the  Campanians  h;id 
made  theirs  more  binding  and  worthy  of  regard,  by  a  surrender 
of  all  that  they  had.  The  Romans  accordingly  took  up  the 
war  against  the  Samnites  as  if  on  their  own  behalf. 

The  region  of  Campania  is  the  finest  of  all  countries,  not 
only  in  Italy,  but  in  the  whole  world.  Nothing  can  be  softer 
than  its  air;  indeed  it  produces  flowers  twice  a  year.  Nothing 
can  be  more  fertile  than  its  soil ;  and  it  is  therefore  said  to 
have  been  an  object  of  contention  between  Bacchus  and  Ceres. 
Nothing  can  be  more  hospitable  than  its  shores  ;  for  on  them 
are  those  noble  harbors,  Caieta,  Misenus,  and  Baiae  with  its 
warm  springs,  as  well  as  the  lakes  Lucriuus  and  Avernus, 


BOOK  i.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  293 

places  of  retirement  as  it  were  for  (he  so:;."4  Here,  too,  arc 
those  vine-clad  mountains,  Gaurus,  Falernus,  Massicus,  and  Ve- 
suvius the  finest  of  all,  the  imitator  of  the  fires  of  ./Etna.  On 
the  sea  are  the  cities  Formiae,  Cumse,  Puteoli,  Naples,  Hercu- 
laneum,  Pompeii,  and,  the  chief  of  all,  Capua,  which  was  form- 
erly one  of  the  three  greatest  cities  in  the  world,  Rome  and 
Carthage  being  the  others. 

In  defence  of  this  city,  and  this  country,  the  Roman  people 
attacked  the  Samnites,  a  nation,  if  you  would  know  its  wealth, 
equipped  with  gold  and  silver  armor,  and  with  clothes  of  va- 
rious colors  even  to  ostentation,25  if  you  would  understand  its 
subtlety,  accustomed  to  assail  its  enemies  by  the  aid  of  its 
forests  and  concealment  among  the  mountains ;  if  you  would 
learn  its  rage  and  fury,  exasperated  to  destroy  the  city  of  Rome 
by  sacred  laws  and  human  sacrifices  ;  if  you  would  look  to  its 
obstinacy,  rendered  desperate  by  six  violations  of  the  treaty, 
and  by  its  very  defeats.  Yet  in  fifty  years,  by  means  of  the 
Fabii  and  Papirii,  fathers  and  sons,  the  Romans  so  subdued 
and  reduced  this  people,  so  demolished  the  very  ruins  of  their 
cities,  that  Samnium  may  now  be  sought  in  Samnium ;  nor 
does  it  easily  appear  whence  there  was  matter  for  four-and- 
twenty  triumphs  over  them.  But  the  greatest  defeat  that  the 
Romans  received  from  this  nation  was  at  the  Caudine  Forks, 
in  the  consulship  of  Veturius  and  Posthumius.  For  the  Roman 
army  being  inclosed,  by  means  of  an  ambush,  within  that  de- 
file, whence  it  was  unable  to  extricate  itself,  Pontius,  the  gen- 
eral of  the  enemy,  struck  with  such  extraordinary  good  for- 
tune, consulted  his  father  Herennius  how  he  should  act,  who, 
as  a  man  of  greater  age  and  experience,  judiciously  advised 
him  "either  to  release  them  all,  or  to  put  them  all  to  the 
sword."  But  Pontius  preferred  making  them  pass,  despoiled 
of  their  arms,  beneath  the  yoke ;  so  that  they  were  not  made 
friends  by  his  mercy,  but  rendered  greater  enemies  after  such 
dishonor.  The  consuls,  therefore,  without  delay,  and  in  a  noble 
spirit,  removed,  by  a  voluntary  surrender  of  themselves,  the  dis- 
grace of  the  treaty ;  and  the  soldiers,  clamorous  for  revenge, 

54  Ch.  XVI.  Places  of  retirement — for  the  sea]  Qucedam  maris  otia.  "  Hft 
elegantly  applies  this  term  to  these  estuaries,  into  which  the  sea  pours  itself, 
End  there,  as  it  were,  rests  and  takes  its  ease."  Salmasius.  Lucretius  uses 
the  word  otia  for  resting-places,  v.  1386. 

45  To  ostentation]  Adambitum.  "  Ryckiua  rightly  interprets  ambitus  '  o*- 
tentation.'  "  Dukvr. 


294  FLORUS.  BOOK  t. 

and  led  on  by  Papirius,  rushed  furiously  along  (he  line  of 
march,  with  their  swords  drawn  (fearful  to  relate !)  before  they 
came  to  battle  ;  and  the  enemy  affirm  that  in  the  encounter 
the  eyes  of  the  Romans  were  like  burning  fire.  Nor  was 
there  an  end  put  to  the  slaughter,  until  they  retaliated  with 
the  yoke  upon  their  enemies  and  their  general  who  was  taken 
prisoner. 

CHAP.    XVII.       THE     WAR     WITH    THE    ETRURIANS     AND    SAMNITES  ' 
COMBINED. 

As  yet  the  Roman  people  had  warred  only  with  single  na- 
tions, but  soon  after  it  had  to  struggle  with  a  combination  of 
them ;  yet  in  such  circumstances  it  was  a  match  for  them  all. 
The  twelve  tribes  of  the  Etrurians,  the  Umbri,  the  most  ancient 
people  of  Italy,  hitherto  unassailed  in  war,  and  those  that 
remained  of  the  Samnites,  suddenly  conspired  for  the  utter 
destruction  of  the  Roman  name.  The  terror  excited  by  na- 
tions so  numerous  and  so  powerful  was  very  great.  The  stand- 
ards of  four  armies,  ready  for  engagement,  flew  far  and  wide 
throughout  Etruria.  The  Ciminian  forest,  too,  which  lay  be- 
tween Rome  and  Etruria,  and  which  had  hitherto  been  as 
little  explored  as  the  Caledonian  or  Hercynian  forests,  was  so 
great  an  object  of  dread,  that  the  senate  charged  the  consul 
not  to  venture  on  such  a  peril.  But  no  danger  deterred  the 
general  from  sending  his  brother  before  to  learn  the  possi- 
bilities of  forcing  a  passage.  He,  putting  on  a  shepherd's 
dress,  and  examining  all  around  in  the  night,  reported  that  the 
way  was  safe.  Fabius  Maximus,  in  consequence,  terminated  a 
most  hazardous  war  without  hazard  ;  for  he  suddenly  assailed 
the  enemy  as  they  were  in  disorder  and  straggling  about,  and 
possessing  himself  of  the  higher  grounds,  thundered  down  on 
those  below  at  his  pleasure,  the  aspect  of  the  war  being  as  if 
weapons  were  hurled  on  the  children  of  earth  from  the  sky 
and  the  clouds.  Yet  final  success  was  not  secured  without 
bloodshed  ;  for  one  of  the  consuls,  being  surprised  in' the  hol- 
low of  a  valley,  sacrificed  his  life,  devoted,  after  the  example  of 
his  father,  to  the  infernal  gods  ;  and  made  this  act  of  devotion, 
patural  to  his  family,  the  price  of  victory. 


EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  295 


CHAP.  XVIII.     THE  WAR  WITH  THE  TARENTINES  AND  PYRRHUS. 

Next  follows  the  Tarentine  War,  one,  indeed,  in  title  and 
name,  but  manifold  in  victories ;  for  it  involved  in  one  ruin, 
as  it  were,  the  Campanians,  Apulians,  and  Lucanians,  as  well 
as  the  Tarentines,  who  were  the  authors  of  it,  that  is  to  say, 
the  whole  of  Italy,  and,  together  with  all  these,  Pyrrhus,  the 
most  famous  king  of  Greece ;  so  that  the  Roman  people,  at 
one  and  the  same  time,  completed  the  reduction  of  Italy  and 
commenced  their  transmarine  triumphs. 

Tarentum  was  built  by  the  Lacedaemonians,  and  was  form- 
erly the  metropolis  of  Calabria,  Apulia,  and  all  Lucania ;  it 
was  famous  for  its  size,  and  walls,  and  harbor,  and  admired 
for  its  situation ;  for,  being  placed  at  the  very  entrance  to 
the  Adriatic,  it  sends  its  vessels  to  all  the  adjacent  countries, 
as  Istria,  Illyricum,  Epirus,  Greece,  Africa,  and  Sicily.  A 
large  theater29  lies  close  upon  the  harbor,  built  so  as  to  over- 
look the  sea  ;  which  theater  was  the  cause  of  all  the  calamities 
that  befell  the  unhappy  city.  They  happened  to  be  celebrating 
games,  when  they  saw  from  thence  the  Roman  fleet  rowing  up 
to  the  shore,  and,  supposing  that  they  were  enemies  approach- 
ing, ran  out  and  attacked  them  without  further  consideration ;" 
for  "  who  or  whence  were  the  Romans  ?"  Nor  was  this 
enough ;  an  embassy  came  from  Rome  without  delay,  to  make 
a  complaint ;  and  this  embassy  they  vilely  insulted,  with  an 
affront  that  was  gross2*  and  disgraceful  to  be  mentioned. 
Hence  arose  the  war.  The  preparations  for  it  were  formidable, 
so  many  nations,  at  the  same  time,  rising  up  in  behalf  of  the 
Tarentines,  and  Pyrrhus  more  formidable  than  them  all,  who, 
to  defend  a  city,  which,  from  its  founders  being  Lacedaemonians, 
Avas  half  Greek,  came  with  all  the  strength  of  Epirus,  Thes- 
salia,  and  Macedonia,  and  with  elephants,  till  then  unknown  in 
Italy ;  menacing  the  country  by  sea  and  land,  with  men, 
horses,  and  arms,  and  the  additional  terror  of  wild  beasts. 

a«  Ch.  XVIII.  A  large  theater]  Majus  tfitatrum.  The  word  majus  puzzles 
the  commentators.  Salmasius  conjectures  that  there  may  have  been  two 
theaters,  a  greater  and  a  less.  Some  copies  have  urbis  tfieatrum,  and 
Freinshemins  conjectures  amphUheatrum. 

37  Without  further  consideration]  Sine  discrimine.  Without  waiting  to 
discriminate  whether  they  were  enemies  or  not. 

28  An  affront  that  was  gross,  etc.]  Valerius  Maximus,  ii.  2,  says  that 
Posthumius,  one  of  the  embassadors,  uriiia  re»persumfu,isse  ;  Dion.  Halicarn. 
Excerpt.  Lagat.,  c.  4,  intimates  something  worse. 


296  FLORDB.  BOOK  i. 

The  first  battle  was  fought  by  the  consul  Levinus,  at  Iler- 
aclea,  on  the  Liris,  a  river  of  Campania ;  a  battle  so  desperate, 
that  Obsidius,  commander  of  a  Frentane  troop  of  horse,  riding 
at  the  king,  put  him  into  disorder,  and  obliged  him  to  throw 
away  his  royal  insignia  and  quit  the  field.  He  would  doubtless 
have  been  defeated,  had  not  the  elephants,  turning  round, 
rushed  forward  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  combatants  ;aa  when 
the  horses,  startled  at  their  bulk  and  ugliness,  as  well  as  at  their 
strange  smell  and  noise,  and  imagining  the  beasts,  which  they 
had  never  seen  before,  to  be  something  more  terrible  than  they 
were,  spread  consternation  and  havoc  far  and  wide. 

A  second  engagement  took  place  at  Asculum  in  Apulia, 
under  the  consuls  Curius  and  Fabricius,  with  somewhat 
better  success ;  for  the  terror  of  the  beasts  had  in  some  de- 
gree passed  off,  and  Caius  Minucius,  a  spearman  of  the  fourth 
legion,  having  cut  off  the  trunk  of  one  of  them,  showed  that 
the  monsters  were  mortal.  Lances  were  accordingly  heaped 
upon  them,  and  firebrands,  hurled  against  their  towers,  covered 
the  troops  of  the  enemy  with  naming  ruins.  Nor  was  there  any 
stop  to  the  slaughter  till  night  separated  the  combatants ;  and  the 
king  himself,  the  last  of  those  that  retreated,  was  carried  off  by 
his  guards,  with  a  wound  in  the  shoulder,  on  his  own  shield. 

The  last  battle  was  fought  by  the  same  leaders,  near  what  are 
called  the  Arusine  plains  in  Lucania ;  but  success  was  then 
wholly  on  the  side  of  the  Romans.  Chance  brought  that  term- 
ination to  the  struggle  which  valor  would  have  given ;  for  the 
elephants  being  again  brought  into  the  front  line,  the  heavy 
stroke  of  a  weapon  descending  on  the  head  of  a  young  one, 
made  it  turn  about ;  and  then,  as  it  was  trampling  down  num- 
bers of  its  own  party,  and'  whining  with  a  loud  noise,  its  dam 
recognized  it,  and  broke  out  of  her  place  as  though  to  revenge 
the  injury  done  to  it,  disordering  all  around  her,  as  if  they  had 
been  troops  of  the  enemy,  with  her  unwieldy  bulk.  Thus  the 
same  beasts,  which  had  gained  the  first  victory,  and  balanced 
» the  second,  gave  the  third  to  the  Romans  without  dispute. 

Nor  did  they  engage  with  Pyrrhus  only  with  arms  and  in  the 
field,  but  contended  with  him  also  in  counsel,  and  at  home 
within  the  city.  For  the  subtle  king,  after  his  first  victory, 

w  To  attract,  etc.]  In  speotaculum  belli.  A  phrase  of  doubtful  meaning. 
See  Duker,  who  refers  to  Sallust,  Jug.,  c.  101,  Turn  spectaeuhvm  JwrriUle 
campis  patentilms,  and  to  Florus  above,  c.  11,  interfuisse  spectaculo  (so.  prselii) 


BOOK  r.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  297 

being  convinced  of  the  valor  of  the  Romans,  despaired  of  gain- 
ing success  by  arms,  and  had  recourse  to  stratagem.  He  burned 
the  bodies  of  the  Romans  that  were  slain,  treated  the  prisoners 
kindly,  and  restored  them  without  ransom  ;  and  having  after- 
ward sent  ambassadors  to  the  city,  he  sought,  by  eveiy  means 
ia  his  power,  to  be  received  into  friendship  and  to  make  a  league 
with  them.  But  at  that  period  the  conduct  of  the  Romans  ap- 
proved itself  in  every  way,  in  war  and  in  peace,  abroad  and  at 
home ;  nor  did  any  other  conquest,  more  than  that  over  the 
Tarentines,  show  the  fortitude  of  the  Roman  people,  the  wisdom, 
of  their  senate,  and  the  gallantry  of  their  generals.  What  sort 
of  men  were  those  whom  we  find  trampled  down  by  the  ele- 
phants in  the  first  battle?  The  wounds  of  all  were  in  their 
breasts ;  some  had  fallen  dead  upon  their  enemies ;  all  had 
swords  in  their  hands,  and  threatening  left  in  their  looks ;  and 
their  anger  lived  even  in  death  itself.  Pyrrhus  was  so  struck 
with  admiration  at  the  sight,  that  he  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  how  easy 
were  it  for  me  to  gain  the  empire  of  the  world,  if  I  had  Ro- 
mans for  my  soldiers ;  or  for  the  Romans,  if  they  had  me  for 
their  king !"  And  what  must  have  been  the  expedition  of  those 
who  survived,  in  recruiting  the  army  ?  For  Pyrrhus  said,  "  I 
see  plainly  that  I  was  born  under  the  constellation  of  Hercules, 
since  so  many  heads  of  enemies,  that  were  cut  off,  arise  again 
upon  me  out  of  their  own  blood,  as  if  they  sprung  from  the 
Lernaaan  serpent."  And  what  kind  of  senate  was  there  ?  when, 
on  the  address  of  Appius  Caecus,  the  embassadors  were  sent 
away  from  the  city  with  their  presents,  and  assured  their  king, 
who  asked  them  what  they  thought  of  the  enemy's  abode,  that 
"  the  city  appeared  to  them  a  temple,  and  the  senate  an  assem- 
bly of  kings."  And  what  sort  of  generals  were  there?  either 
in  the  camp,  when  Curius  sent  back  the  physician  that  offered 
the  head  of  king  Pyrrhus  for  sale,  and  Fabricius  refused  a  share 
of  the  kingdom  offered  him  by  Pyrrhus ;  or  in  peace,  when  Cu- 
rius preferred  his  earthen  vessels  to  the  gold  of  the  Samnites, 
and  Fabricius,  with  the  gravity  becoming  a  censor,  condemned 
ten  pounds  of  silver,  in  the  possession  of  Rufinus,  though  a  man 
of  consular  dignity,  as  a  luxury. 

Who  then  can  wonder  that  the  Romans,  with  such  manners, 
and  with  a  brave  soldiery,  were  victorious  ?  And  that  in  this 
one  war  with  the  Tarentines,  they  brought  under  their  power, 
within  the  space  of  four  years,  the  greatest  part  of  Italy,  the 

13* 


298  FLORUS.  BOOK  i. 

stoutest  nation?,  the  most  wealthy  cities,  and  the  most  fruitful 
regions  1  Or  what  can  more  exceed  credibility  than  a  compar- 
ison of  the  beginning  of  the  war  with  the  end  of  it  1  Pyrrhus, 
victorious  in  the  first  battle,  laid  waste  Campania,  Liris,30  and 
Fregellae,  while  all  Italy  was  in  alarm,  and  took  a  view  of  Rome, 
which  was  well-nigh  captured,  from  the  heights  of  Praenest?,  fill- 
ing the  eyes  of  the  trembling  city,  at  the  distance  of  twenty 
miles,  with  smoke  and  dust.  The  same  prince  being  afterward 
twice  forced  from  his  camp,  twice  wounded,  and  diiven  over 
sea  and  land  into  Greece,  his  own  country,  peace  and  quiet  en- 
sued ;  and  so  vast  was  the  spoil  from  so  many  wealthy  nations, 
that  Rome  could  not  contain  her  own  victory.  Hardly  ever  did 
a  finer  or  more  glorious  triumph  enter  the  city ;  when  before 
this  time  you  could  have  seen  nothing  but  the  cattle  of  the  Vol- 
scians,  the  flocks  of  the  Sabines,  the  chariots  of  the  Gauls,  or 
the  broken  arms  of  the  S  mn'tos;  but  now,  if  you  looked  on 
the  captives,  they  were  Molosskna^  Thessalians,  Macedonians, 
Bruttians,  Apulians,  and  Lucanians  ;  if  upon  the  pomp  of  the 
procession,  there  was  gold,  purple,  statues,  pictures,  and  all  the 
ornaments  of  Tarenturn.  The  people  of  Rome,  however,  be- 
held nothing  with  greater  pleasure  than  those  beasts  which  they 
had  dreaded,  with  their  towers  on  their  backs  ;  which,  not  with- 
out a  sense  of  their  captivity,  followed  the  victorious  horses 
with  their  heads  bowed  to  the  earth. 

CHAP.    XIX.      THE    PICENIAN    WAR. 

Soon  after  all  Italy  enjoyed  peace  (for  who  would  venture 
on  war  after  the  subjugation  of  Tarenturn  ?)  except  that  the 
Romans  thought  proper,  of  their  own  accord,  to  pursue  those 
who  had  joined  the  enemy.  The  people  of  Picenum  were  in 
consequence  subdued,  with  Asculum,  their  metropolis,  under 
the  conduct  of  Sempronius ;  who,  as  there  was  a  tremor  of 
the  earth  during  the  battle,  appeased  the  goddess  Earth  by 
vowing  a  temple  to  her. 

CHAP.    XX.       THE    SALLENTINE    WAR. 

The  Sallentines  shared  the  fate  of  the  people  of  Picenum ; 
and  Brundusium,  the  chief  city  of  the  country,  with  its  famous 

so  Liris]  This  word  is  elsewhere  found  only  as  the  name  of  a  river. 
Froinshemius  takes  it  here  for  that  of  a  town.  Minellius  suggest*  thiU 
Floras  may  mean  the  banks  of  the  Liris. 


BOOK  i.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  299 

harbor,  w.-:s  taken  by  Marcus  Atilius.  In  this  contest  Pales, 
the  goddess  of  shepherds,  demanded,  of  her  own  accord,  a 
temple  as  the  price  of  the  victory. 

CHAP.    XXI.       THE    WAR    WITH    THE  VOLSINI. 

The  last  of  the  Italians  that  fell  under  the  government  of 
the  Romans  were  the  Volsini,  the  richest  of  all  the  Etrurians, 
who  sought  aid  against  the  rebels  that  had  formerly  been  their 
slaves,  and  that  had  turned  their  liberty,  granted  them  by 
their  masters,  against  their  masters  themselves,  taking  the 
government  into  their,  own  hands,  and  making  themselves 
tyrants.  But  these  were  chastised  for  their  presumption  under 
the  leadership  of  Fabius  Gurges. 

CHAP.    XXII.    OF    SEDITIONS. 

This  is  the  second  age  of  the  Roman  people,  and,  as  it  were, 
its  youth ;  in  which  it  was  extremely  vigorous,  and  grew  warm 
and  fervid  in  the  flower  of  its  strength.  Thus  a  certain  rude- 
ness, derived  from  the  shepherds,  their  ancestors,  which  still 
remained  in  them,  betrayed  something  of  an  untamed  spirit. 
Hence  it  happened  that  the  army,  having  mutinied  in  the  camp, 
stoned  their  general,  Posthumius,  for  withholding  the  spoil 
which  he  had  promised  them ;  that  under  Appius  Claudius 
they  refused  to  conquer  the  enemy  when  they  had  the  power ; 
that  on  occasion  of  the  soldiers,  with  Volero  at  their  head,  de- 
clining to  serve,  the  fasces  of  the  consul  were  broken ;  and 
that  the  people  punished  their  most  eminent  leaders  with  exile, 
when  they  opposed  their  will :  as  Coriolanus,  for  desiring  them 
to  till  their  grounds  (nor  would  he  have  less  severely  revenged 
his  wrongs  in  war,  had  not  his  mother  Veturia,  when  he  was 
leading  0:1  his  forces,  disarmed  him  with  her  tears),  and  Camil- 
lus,  because  he  seemed  to  have  divided  the  plunder  of  Veii 
unfairly  between  the  common  people  and  the  army.  But  the 
latter,  with  better  fortune01  than  Coriolanus,  grew  old  in  the 

21  Ch.  XXII.  But  the  latter,  with  better  fortune,  etc.]  Sed  Jiic  melior  [ob- 
pessis],  in  captd  vrbe  comenuit.  Obseasis  occurs  iu  some  copies,  but  Duker 
and  Graevius  omit  it.  The  city  which  he  had  taken  was  Veil.  But  it  is  not 
said  in  any  other  author  that  Camillus  spent  his  old  age  at  Veii.  Salmasiu.s 
understands  consenuit  of  pining  at  the  misfortunes  of  his  country^  but  thia 
Interpretation  is  so  forced  that  it  seems  less  reasonable  to  accept  it  than  to 
suppose  Florus  to  have  been  mistaken. 


300  FLORUS.  HOOK  i 

city  which  he  had  taken,  and  afterward  avenged  his  country- 
men, at  their  entreaty,  on  their  enemies  the  Gauls. 

Disputes  where  also  carried  on,  more  violently  than  was  just 
and  reasonable,  with  the  senate ;  insomuch  that  the  people, 
leaving  their  dwellings,  threatened  devastation  and  ruin  to  their 
country. 

CHAP.   XXIII.       THE    SUBJECT    CONTINUED. 

The  first  disagreement  was  occasioned  by  the  tyranny  of  the 
money-lenders,  who  vented  their  resentment  even  on  the  backs 
of  their  debtors,  scourging  them  as  if  they  were  slaves ;  and 
the  commons,  in  consequence,  withdrew  under  arms  to  the 
Sacred  Mount,  from  which  they  were  with  difficulty  recalled 
by  the  authority  of  Menenius  Agrippa,  an  eloquent  and  wise 
man  ;  nor  would  they  have  returned  at  all  if  they  had  not  ob- 
tained tribunes  for  themselves.  The  fable  of  his,  in  the  old 
style,  so  powerfully  persuasive  to  concord,  is  still  extant,  in 
which  he  said  that  "  the  members  of  the  human  body  were 
once  at  variance  among  themselves,  alleging,  that  while  all  the 
rest  discharged  their  duties,  the  stomach  alone  continued  with- 
out occupation ;  but  that  at  length,  when  reaxly  to  die,  they 
returned  from  their  disagreement  to  a  right  understanding,  as 
they  found  that  they  were  nourished  with  the  food  that  was  by 
the  stomach  reduced  to  blood." 


CHAP.   XXIV.      THE    SUBJECT    CONTINUED. 

The  licentiousness  of  the  Decemvirate  gave  rise  to  the  second 
disagreement,  which  occurred  in  the  middle  of  the  city.  Ten 
eminent  men  of  the  city,  chosen  for  the  purpose,  had,  by  order 
of  the  people,  drawn  up  in  a  body  certain  laws  which  had  been 
brought  from  Greece,  and  the  whole  course  of  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  had  been  arranged  in  twelve  tables ;  but  though 
the  object  of  their  office  was  accomplished,  they  still  retained  the 
fasces  that  had  been  delivered  to  them,  with  a  spirit  like  that 
of  kings.  Appius  Claudius,  above  all  the  rest,  advanced  to  such 
a  degree  of  audacity,  that  he  destined  for  dishonor  a  free-born 
virgin,  forgetting  both  Lucretia,  and  the  kings,  and  the  laws 
which  he  himself  had  written.  When  her  father  Virginius, 
therefore,  saw  his  daughter  unjustly  sentenced,  and  dragged 
away  to  slavery,  he  slew  her,  without  any  hesitation,  in  the 


BOOK  I.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  301 

midst  of  the  forum,  with  his  own  hand ;  and  bringing  up  the 
troops  of  his  fellow-soldiers,  he  dragged  the  whole  band  of 
tyrants,  beset  with  an  armed  force,  from  the  Azentine  Mount  to 
imprisonment  and  chains. 

CHAP.    XXV.       THE    SUBJECT    CONTINUED. 

The  question  of  the  propriety  of  intermarriages  raised  a 
third  sedition,  it  being  demanded  that  pbbeians  should  be 
allowed  to  intermarry  with  patricians.  This  tumult  broke  out 
on  Mount  Janiculurn,  Canuleius,  a  tribune  of  the  people,  being 
the  leader  in  it. 

CHAP.    XXVI.       THE    SUBJECT    CONTINUED. 

An  ambition  for  public  honors  occasioned  a  fourth  sedition, 
from  a  demand  being  made  that  plebeians  should  be  admitted 
to  magistracies.  Fabius  Ambustus,  the  father  of  two  daughters, 
had  married  one  to  Sulpicius,  a  man  of  patrician  family,  and 
the  other  to  Stolo,  a  plebeian.  The  latter,  on  some  occasion, 
being  rather  scornfully  laughed  at  by  her  sister,  because  she 
had  been  startled  at  the  sound  of  the  lictor's  staff  (which  was 
unknown  in  her  family),  could  not  endure  the  affront.  Her 
husband,  in  consequence,  having  gained  the  tribuneship,  ob- 
tained from  the  senate,  though  much  against  their  will,  a  share 
in  public  honors  and  offices  for  the  plebeians. 

But  in  these  very  seditions,  you  may  not  improperly  admire 
the  conduct  of  this  great  people  ;  for  at  one  time  they  sup- 
ported liberty,  at  another  chastity,  at  another  the  respectability 
of  their  birth,38  at  another  their  right  to  marks  and  distinctions 
of  honor ;  and  among  all  these  proceedings,  they  were  vigilant 
guardians  of  nothing  more  than  of  liberty,  and  could  by  no 
bribery  be  corrupted  to  make  sale  of  it ;  though  there  arose 
from  time  to  time,  as  was  natural  among  a  people  already 
great,  and  growing  daily  greater,  citizens  of  very  pernicious  in- 
tentions. Spurius  Cassius,  suspected  of  aiming  at  kingly  power 
by  the  aid  of  the  agrarian  law,  and  Maelius,  suspected  of  a 
similar  design  from  his  excessive  largesses  to  the  people,  they 
punished  with  instant  death.  On  Spurius,  indeed,  his  own 

"  Ch.  XXVI.  Respectability  of  their  birth]  Natalium  dignitatem.  They 
maintained  that  all  citizens  were  of  sufficiently  respectable  birth  to  inter- 
marry with  the  patricians. 


302  FLORUS.  BOOK  11. 

father  inflicted  the  punishment.  Ahala,  the  master  of  the 
horse,  killed  Myelius  in  the  middle  of  the  forum,  by  order 
of  Quinctius  the  dictator.  Manlius,  also,  the  defender  of 
the  Capitol,  when  he  behaved  himself  too  arrogantly,  and 
unsuitably  to  the  rank  of  a  citizen,  presuming  on  having 
liberated  most  of  the  debtors,  they  precipitated  from  that  very 
citadel  which  he  had  preserved.  In  this  manner,  at  home  and 
abroad,  in  peace  and  war,  did  the  Roman  people  pass  the 
period  of  adolescence,  that  is  to  say,  the  second  age  of  their 
empire,  in  which  they  subdued  with  arms  all  Italy  between  the 
Alps  and  the  sea. 


BOOK  II. 

CHAP.    I.       INTRODUCTORY. 

After  Italy  was  conquered  and  subjugated,  the  Roman  people, 
now  approaching  its  five-hundreth  year,  and  being  fairly  arrived 
at  maturity,  was  then  truly  robust  and  manly  (if  robustness 
and  manhood  may  be  attributed  to  a  nation),  and  had  begun 
to  be  a  match  for  the  whole  world.  Accordingly  (wonderful 
and  scarcely  credible  to  relate  !)  that  people  who  had  struggled 
with  their  neighbors  at  home  for  nearly  five  hundred  years 
(so  difficult  was  it  to  give  Italy  a  head),  overran,  in  the  two 
hundred  years  that  follow,  Africa,  Europe,  Asia,  and  indeed  the 
whole  world,  with  their  wars  and  victories. 

CHAP.    II.       THE    FIRST    PUNIC    WAR 

The  victor-people  of  Italy,  having  now  spread  over  the^  land 
as  far  as  the  sea,  checked  its  course  for  a  little,  like  a  fire,  which, 
having  consumed  the  woods  lying  in  its  track,  is  stopped  by 
some  intervening  river.  But  soon  after,  seeing  at  no  great 
distance  a  rich  prey,  which  seemed  in  a  manner  detached  and 
torn  away  from  their  own  Italy,  they  were  so  inflamed  with  a 
desire  to  possess  it,  that  since  it  could  neither  be  joined  to 
their  country  by  a  mole  or  bridge,  they  resolved  that  it  should 
be  secured  by  arms  and  war,  and  reunited,  as  it  were,  to  their 
continent.33  And  behold !  as  if  the  Fates  themselves  opened  a 

»«  Ch.  II.  Keunitedy  as  it  were,  to  their  continent]  Ad  contlnentem  suunt 


BOOK  n.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  303 

way  for  thorn,  an  opportunity  was  not  wanting,  for  Messana,34  a 
city  of  Sicily  iu  alliance  with  them,  happened  then  to  make;  a 
complaint  concerning  the  tyranny  of  the  Carthaginians. 

As  the  Romans  coveted  Sicily,  so  likewise  did  the  people  of 
Carthage ;  and  both  at  the  same  time,  with  equal  desires  ;:nd 
equal  forces,  contemplated  the  attainment  of  the  empire  of  the 
world.  Under  the  pretext,  therefore^  of  assisting  their  allies, 
but  in  reality  being  allured  by  the  prey,  that  rude  people,  that 
people  sprung  from  shepherds,  and  merely  accustomed  to  the 
land,  made  it  appear,  though  the  strangeness  of  the  attempt 
startled  them  (yet  such  confidence  is  there  in  true  courage), 
that  to  the  brave  it  is  indifferent  whether  a  battle  be  fought  on 
norseback  or  in  ships,  by  land  or  by  sea. 

It  was  in  the  consulship  of  Appius  Claudius  that  they  first 
ventured  upon  that  strait  which  has  so  ill  a  name  from  the 
strange  things35  related  of  it,  and  so  impetuous  a  current.  But 
they  were  so  far  from  being  affrighted,  that  they  regarded  the 
violence  of  the  rushing  tide  as  something  in  their  favor,  and, 
sailing  forward  immediately  and  without  delay,  they  defeated 
Hiero,  king  of  Syracuse,  with  so  much  rapidity,  that  he  owned 
he  was  conquered  before  he  saw  the  enemy.  In  the  consulship 
of  Duilius  and  Cornelius,  they  likewise  had  courage  to  engage 
at  sea,  and  then  the  expedition  used  in  equipping  the  fleet  was 
a  presage  of  victory  ;  for  within  sixty  days  after  the  timber  was 
felled,  a  navy  of  a  hundred  and  sixty  ships  lay  at  anchor ;  so 
that  the  vessels  did  not  seem  to  have  been  made  by  art,  but  the 
trees  themselves  appeared  to  have  been  turned  into  ships  by  the 
aid  of  the  gods.  The  aspect  of  the  battle,  too,  was  wonderful ; 
as  the  heavy  and  slow  ships  of  the  Romans  closed  with  the 
swift  and  nimble  barks  of  the  enemy.  Little  availed  their  naval 
arts,  such  as  breaking  off  the  oars  of  a  ship,  and  eluding  the 
beaks  of  the  enemy  by  turning  aside ;  for  the  grappling-irons, 
and  other  instruments,  which,  before  the  engagement,  had  been 
greatly  derided  by  the  enemy,  were  fastened  upon  their  ships, 
and  they  were  compelled  to  fight  as  on  solid  ground.  Being 
victorious,  therefore,  Liparae,  by  sinking  and  scattering  the 

revocanda  beUo.  As  bellojungenda  occurs  immediately  before,  Freinshemius 
and  Duker,  though  they  retain  the  latter  bello  in  the  text,  as  it  is  found  in 
all  copies,  advise  its  omission. 

34  Messana]  Now  Messina. 

84  That  strait — strange  things,  etc.]  The  strait  of  Messina.  "  By  ttrangt 
things  (mon#tris)  he  means  Scylla  and  Charybdis."  Salmasiw. 


304  PLORUS.  BOOK  n. 

enemy's  fleet,  they  celebrated  their  first  naval  triumph.  And 
how  great  was  the  exultation  at  it !  Duilius,  the  commander, 
not  content  with  one  day's  triumph,  ordered,  during  all  the 
rest  of  his  life,  when  he  returned  from  supper,  lighted  torches 
to  be  carried,  and  flutes  to  play,  before  him,  as  if  he  would 
triumph  every  day.  The  loss  in  this  battle  was  trifling,  in 
comparison  with  the  greatness  of  the  victory  ;  though  the  other 
consul,  Cornelius  Asina,  was  cut  off,  being  invited  by  the  enemy 
to  a  pretended  conference,  and  put  to  death ;  an  instance  of 
Carthaginian  perfidy. 

Under  the  dictatorship  of  Calatinus,  the  Romans  expelled 
almost  all  the  garrisons  of  the  Carthaginians  from  Agrigentum, 
Drepanum,  Panormus,  Eryx,  and  Lilybaeum.  Some  alarm  was 
experienced  at  the  forest  of  Camarina,  but  we  were  rescued  by 
the  extraordinary  valor  of  Calpurnius  Flamma,  a  tribune  of  the 
soldiers,  who,  with  a  choice  troop  of  three  hundred  men,  seized 
upon  an  eminence  occupied  by  the  enemy  to  our  annoyance,30 
and  so  kept  them  in  play  till  the  whole  army  escaped ;  thus,  by 
eminent  success,  equalling  the  fame  of  Thermopylae  and  Leoni- 
das,  though  our  hero  was  indeed  more  illustrious,  inasmuch  as 
he  escaped  and  outlived  so  great  an  effort,  notwithstanding  he 
wrote  nothing"  with  his  blood. 

In  the  consulship  of  Lucius  Cornelius  Scipio,  when  Sicily 
was  become  as  a  suburban  province  of  the  Roman  people,  and 
the  war  was  spreading  further,  they  crossed  over  into  Sardinia, 
and  into  Corsica,  which  lies  near  it.  In  the  latter  they  terrified 
the  natives  by  the  destruction  of  the  city  of  Olbia,  in  the 
former  by  that  of  Aleria ;  and  so  effectually  humbled  the  Car- 
thaginians, both  by  land  and  sea,  that  nothing  remained  to  be 
conquered  but  Africa  itself.  Accordingly,  under  the  leadership 

»«  To  our  annoyance]  Infesium. 

37  Notwithstanding  lie  wrote  nothing,  etc.]  Licet  nikil  scripserit  sanguine. 
"  A  hallucination  of  Florus,  who  inadvertently  attributes  to  Leonidas  what 
was  done  by  Othryades.  Leonidas  wrote  nothing  with  his  blood,  as  fur,  at 
least,  as  we  learn  from  the  writings  of  antiquity.  But  such  an  act  is  uni- 
versally attributed  to  Othryades,  both  by  poets  and  prose  writers."  Salma- 
slus.  Othryades  was  the  survivor  of  the  three  hundred  Spartans  who  fought 
with  three  hundred  Argives  for  the  right  of  possessing  a  piece  of  land  called 
Thyrea.  Being  ashamed  to  return  to  Sparta  alone,  he  slew  himself  on  the 
field  of  battle,  first  writing  on  his  shield,  with  his  blood,  that  Thyrea  be- 
longed to  the  Lacffldemonians.  For  an  account  of  the  combat,  see  Herod., 
i.  82.  Freinshemius  thinks  the  words  are  not  Florus's,  but  those  of  some 
fflossator.  Gronovius  would  read  licet  nonnihil  scripserit  sanguine,  which 
would  be  no  great  improvement. 


BOOK  n.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  305 

of  Marcus  Attilius  Regulus,  the  war  passed  over  into  Afiici. 
Nor  were  there  wanting  some  on  the  occasion,  who  mutinied 
at  the  mere  name  and  dread  of  the  Punic  sen,  a  tribune  named 
Mannius  increasing  their  alarm  ;  but  the  general,  threatening 
him  with  the  ax  if  he  did  not  obey,  produced  courage  for  the 
voyage  by  the  terror  of  death.  They  then  hastened  their  course 
by  the  aid  of  winds  and  oars,  and  such  was  the  terror  of  the 
Africans  at  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  that  Carthage  was  al- 
most surprised  with  its  gates  open. 

The  first  prize  taken  in  the  war  was  the  city  of  Clypea, 
which  juts  out  from  the  Carthaginian  shore  as  a  fortress  or 
watch-tower.  Both  this,  and  more  than  three  hundred  for- 
tresses besides,  were  destroyed.  Nor  had  the  Romans  to  con- 
tend only  with  men,  but  with  monsters  also  ;  for  a  serpent  of 
vast  size,  born,  as  it  were,  to  avenge  Africa,  harassed  their 
camp  on  the  Bagrada.  But  Regulus,  who  overcame  all  ob- 
stacles, having  spread  the  terror  of  his  name  far  and  Avide, 
having  killed  or  taken  prisoners  a  great  number  of  the  enemy's 
force,  and  their  captains  themselves,  and  having  dispatched 
his  fleet,  laden  with  much  spoil,  and  stored  with  materials  for  a 
triumph,  to  Rome,  proceeded  to  besiege  Carthage  itself,  the 
origin  of  the  war,  and  took  his  position  close  to  the  gates  of  it. 
Here  fortune  was  a  little  changed  ;  but  it  was  only  that  more 
proofs  of  Roman  fortitude  might  be  given,  the  greatness  of 
which  was  generally  best  shown  in  calamities.  For  the  enemy 
applying  for  foreign  assistance,  and  Lacedaemon  having  sent 
them  Xanthippus  as  a  general,  we  were  defeated  by  a  captain 
so  eminently  skilled  in  military  affairs.  It  was  then  that  by  an 
ignominious  defeat,  such  as  the  Romans  had  never  before  ex- 
perienced, their  most  valiant  commander  fell  alive  into  the  ene- 
my's hands.  But  he  was  a  man  able  to  endure  so  great  a 
calamity  ;  as  he  was  neither  humbled  by  his  imprisonment  at 
Carthage,  nor  by  the  deputation  which  he  headed  to  Rome ; 
for  he  advised  what  was  contrary  to  the  injunctions  of  the  ene- 
my, and  recommended  that  no  peace  should  be  made,  and  no 
exchange  of  prisoners  admitted.  Even  by  his  voluntary  return 
to  his  enemies,  and  by  his  last  sufferings,  whether  in  prison  or 
on  the  cross,  the  dignity  of  the  man  was  not  at  all  obscured. 
But  being  rendered,  by  all  these  occurrences,  even  more  worthy 
of  admiration,  what  can  be  said  of  him  but  that,  when  con- 
quered, he  was  superior  to  his  conquerors,  and  that,  though 


306  FLORUS.  BOOK  n. 

Carthage  had  not  submitted,  he  triumphed  over  Fortune  her- 
self? 

The  Roman  people  were  now  much  keener  and  more  ardent 
to  revenge  the  fate  of  Regulus  than  to  obtain  victory.  Under 
the  consul  Metellus,  therefore,  when  the  Carthaginians  were 
growing  insolent,  and  when  the  war  had  returned  into  Sicily, 
they  gave  the  enemy  sucli  a  defeat  at  Panormus,  that  they 
thought  no  more  of  that  island.  A  proof  of  the  greatness  of 
this  victory  was  the  capture  of  about  a  hundred  elephants,  a 
vast  prey,  even  if  they  had  taken  that  number,  not  in  war,  but 
in  hunting.38  Under  the  consulship  of  Appius  Claudius,  they 
were  overcome,  not  by  the  enemy,  but  by  the  gods  themselves, 
whose  auspices  they  had  despised,  their  fleet  being  sunk  in 
that  very  place  where  the  consul  had  ordered  the  chickens  to 
be  thrown  overboard,  because  he  was  warned  by  them  not  to 
fight.  Under  the  consulship  of  Marcus  Fabius  Buteo,  they 
overthrew,  near  ^Egimurus,  in  the  African  sea,  a  fleet  of  the 
enemy  which  was  just  sailing  for  Italy.  But  O  how  great 
materials  for  a  triumph  were  then  lost  by  a  storm,  when  the 
Roman  fleet,  richly  laden  with  spoil,  and  driven  by  contrary 
winds,  covered  with  its  wreck  the  coasts  of  Africa  and  the 
Syrtes,  and  of  all  the  islands  lying  amid  those  seas  !aa  A 
great  calamity  !  But  not  without  some  honor  to  this  eminent 
people,  from  the  circumstance  that  their  victory  was  intercepted 
only  by  a  storm,  and  that  the  matter  for  their  triumph  was  lost 
only  by  a  shipwreck.  Yet,  though  the  Punic  spoils  were  scat- 
tered abroad,  and  thrown  up  by  the  waves  on  every  promontory 
and  island,  the  Romans  still  celebrated  a  triumph.  In  the  con- 
sulship of  Lutatius  Catulus,  an  end  was  at  last  put  to  the  war 
near  the  islands  named  Agates.  Nor  was  there  any  greater 
fight  during  this  war ;  for  the  fleet  of  the  enemy  was  laden 

S8  A  vast  prey — not  in  war,  but  in  hunting]  Sic  quoque  magna  prada,  si 
qregem  ilium  non  bello,  sed  venaticme  cepisnet.  "  The  sense  is,  it  would  have 
been  a  considerable  capture  if  he  had  taken  these  hundred  elephants,  not 
in  battle,  but  in  hunting,  in  which  more  are  often  taken."  Grcevius.  "  In 
this  explanation  Perizonius  acquiesced."  Duker.  Most  readers,  I  fear,  wilJ 
wish  that  a  better  were  proposed. 

»•  Coasts — of  all  the  islands  lying  amid  those  seas]  Duker's  edition,  and 
almost  every  other,  \\a%  omnium  imperia  gentium,  insular  am  littora,  implevit, 
which  Grsevius  has  pronounced,  and  others  have  seen,  to  be  nonsense. 
Tollius  for  imperia  proposed promontoria  :  but  I  have  thought  it  better  to 
follow  the  conjecture  offered  oy  Markland.  (Epistle  to  Hare,  p.  38,  cited  by 
I)uker),  omnium  inter  inari  jacentium  insularum,  etc.,  though  this  is  rather 
bold,  and  not  supported  by  any  thing  similar  in  Florus. 


TOOK  ii.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  307 

with  provisions,  troops,  towers,  and  arms  ;  indeed,  all  Carthage, 
as  it  were,  was  in  it ;  a  state  of  things  which  proved  its  de- 
struction, as  the  Roman  fleet,  on  the  contraiy,  being  active, 
light,  free  from  incumbrance,  and  in  some  degree  resembling  a 
land-camp,  was  wheeled  about  by  its  oars  like  cavalry  in  a 
battle  by  their  reins ;  and  the  beaks  of  the  vessels,  directed 
now  against  one  part  of  the  enemy  and  now  against  another, 
presented  the  appearance  of  living  creatures.  In  a  very  short 
time,  accordingly,  the  ships  of  the  enemy  were  shattered  to 
pieces,  and  filled  the  whole  sea  between  Sicily  and  Sardinia 
with  their  wrecks.  So  great,  indeed,  was  the  victory,  that  there 
was  no  thought  of  demolishing  the  enemy's  city ;  since  it 
seemed  superfluous  to  pour  their  fury  on  towers  and  walls, 
when  Carthage  had  already  been  destroyed  at  sea. 

CHAP.    III.       THE    LIGURIAN    WAR. 

After  the  Carthaginian  war  was  ended,  there  followed  a 
time  of  repose  indeed,  but  short,  and  as  it  were  only  to  take 
breath.  As  a  proof  of  peace,  and  of  a  real  cessation  from 
arms,  the  Temple  of  Janus  was  then  shut  for  the  first  time 
since  the  reign  of  Numa.  But  it  was  immediately  and  with- 
out delay  opened  again.  For  the  Ligurians,  and  the  Insubrian 
Gauls,  as  well  as  the  lllyrians,  began  to  be  troublesome.  In- 
deed, the  two  former  nations,  situate  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps, 
that  is,  at  the  very  entrance  to  Italy,  stirred  up,  apparently,  by 
some  deity,  lest  the  Roman  arms  should  contract  rust  and  mold, 
and  at  length  becoming,  as  it  were,  our  daily  and  domestic 
enemies,40  continued  to  exercise  the  young  soldiery  in  the  busi- 
ness of  war  ;  and  the  Romans  whetted  the  sword  of  their  valor 
on  each  of  those  nations  as  upon  a  whetstone.  The  Ligurians, 
lying  close  to  the  bottom  of  the  Alps,  between  the  rivers  Varus 
and  Macra,  and  shrouded  in  woody  thickets,  it  was  more  trouble 
to  find  than  to  conquer.  Defended  by  their  position  and 
facilities  of  escape,  and  being  a  hardy  and  nimble  race,  they 
rather  committed  depredations  as  occasion  offered,  than  made 
regular  war.  After  all  their  tribes,  therefore,  the  Salyi,  the 

40  Two  former  nations — daily  and  domestic  enemies]  Utrique  quotidiani 
et  quasi  domestici  hostes.  As  Floras  speaks  of  three  nations,  and  then  says 
utrique,  the  commentators  have  been  in  doubt  which  of  them  are  meant  by 
that  word.  I  have  followed  Salmasius,  with  whom  Perizonius  coincides. 
The  Illyrians  were  more  remote  than  the  other  two. 


308  PLORUS.  BOOK  n. 

Deceates,  the  Oxybii,  the  Euburiates,  and  the  Ingauri,  liad 
baffled  the  Romans  for  a  long  time  with  success,  Fulvius  at 
length  surrounded  their  recesses  with  flames,  Bsebius  drew  them 
down  into  the  plains,  and  Posthumius  so  disarmed  them  that 
he  scarcely  left  them  iron  to  till  the  ground. 


CHAP.    IV.       THE    GALLIC    WAK. 

The  Galli  Insubres,  who  were  also  borderers  upon  the  Alps, 
had  the  tempers  of  savage  beasts,  and  bodies  greater  than 
human.  But  by  experience,  it  was  found  that,  as  their  first 
onset  was  more  violent  than  that  of  men,  so  their  subsequent 
conduct  in  battle  was  inferior  to  that  of  women.  The  bodies 
of  the  people  about  the  Alps,  reared  in  a  moist  atmosphere, 
have  somewhat  in  them  resembling  their  snows,  and,  as  soon 
as  they  are  heated  in  fight,  run  down  with  perspiration,  and 
are  relaxed  with  any  slight  motion,  as  it  were  by  the  heat  of 
the  sun.  These  had  often  at  other  times  sworn,  but  especially 
under  their  general  Britomarus,  that  they  would  not  loose  their 
belts  before  they  mounted  the  Capitol.  And  it  happened  ac- 
cordingly ;  for  JEmilius  conquered  and  disarmed  them  in  the 
Capitol  Soon  after,  with  Ariovistus  for  their  leader,  they 
vowed  to  their  god  Mars  a  chain  made  out  of  the  spoils  of  our 
soldiers.  But  Jupiter  prevented  the  performance  of  their  vow ; 
for  Flaminius  erected  a  golden  trophy  to  Jove  out  of  their 
chains.  When  Viridomarus  was  their  king,  they  vowed  the 
arms  of  the  Romans  to  Vulcan ;  but  their  vows  had  a  very 
different  result ;  for  Marcellus,  having  killed  their  king,  hung 
up  his  arms  to  Jupiter  Feretrius,  being  the  third  spolia  opima 
since  those  of  Romulus,  the  father  of  the  city. 


The  Illyrians,  or  Liburnians,  live  at  the  very  root  of  the 
Alps,  between  the  rivers  Arsia  and  Titius,  extending  far  over 
the  whole  coast  of  the  Adriatic.  This  people,  in  the  reign  of 
a  queen  named  Teutana,  not  content  with  depredations  on  the 
Roman  territory,  added  an  execrable  crime  to  their  audacity. 
For  they  beheaded  our  embassadors,  who  were  calling  them  to 
account  for  their  offenses ;  and  this  death  they  inflicted,  not 
with  the  sword,  but,  as  if  they  had  been  victims  for  sacrifice, 


BOOK  n.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  309 

with  the  ax  ;  they  also  burned  the  captains  of  our  ships  with 
fire.  These  insults  were  offered,  to  make  them  the  more  of- 
fensive, by  a  woman.  The  people  were  in  consequence  uni- 
versally reduced  to  subjection,  by  the  efforts  of  Cnaeus  Fulvius 
Centimalus ;  and  the  ax,  descending  on  the  necks  of  their 
chiefs,  made  full  atonement  to  the  manes  of  the  embassadors. 


CHAP.    VI.      THE    SECOND    PUNIC    WAR. 

After  the  first  Carthaginian  war,  there  was  scarcely  a  rest 
of  four  years,  when  there  was  another  war  ;  inferior  indeed  in 
length  of  time  (for  it  occupied  but  eighteen  years),  but  so 
much  more  terrible,  from  the  direfulness  of  its  havoc,  that 
if  any  one  compares  the  losses  on  both  sides,  the  people  that 
conquered  was  more  like  one  defeated.  What  provoked  this 
noble  people  was,  that  the  command  of  the  sea  Mras  forced 
from  them,  that  their  islands  were  taken,  and  that  they  were 
obliged  to  pay  tribute  which  they  had  before  been  accustomed 
to  impose.  Hannibal,  when  but  a  boy,  swore  to  his  father, 
before  an  altar,  to  take  revenge  on  the  Romans ;  nor  was  he 
backward  to  execute  his  oath.  Saguntum,  accordingly,  was 
made  the  occasion  of  a  war  ;  an  old  and  wealthy  city  of  Spain, 
and  a  great  but  sad  example  of  fidelity  to  the  Romans.  This 
city,  though  granted,  by  the  common  treaty,  the  special  priv- 
ilege of  enjoying  its  liberty,  Hannibal,  seeking  pretenses  for 
new  disturbances,  destroyed  with  his  own  hands  and  those  of 
its  inhabitants,  in  order  that,  by  an  infraction  of  the  compact, 
he  might  open  a  passage  for  himself  into  Italy. 

Among  the  Romans  there  is  the  highest  regard  to  treaties, 
and  consequently,  on  hearing  of  the  siege  of  an  allied  city, 
and  remembering,  too,  the  compact  made  with  the  Cartha- 
ginians, they  did  not  at  once  have  recourse  to  arms,  but  chose 
rather  to  expostulate  on  legal  grounds.  In  the  mean  time  the 
Saguntines,  exhausted  with  famine,  the  assaults  of  machines, 
and  the  sword,  and  their  fidelity  being  at  last  carried  to  des- 
peration, raised  a  vast  pile  in  the  market-place,  on  which  they 
destroyed,  with  fire  and  sword,  themselves,  their  wives  and 
children,  and  all  that  they  possessed.  Hannibal,  the  cause  of 
this  great  destruction,  was  required  to  be  given  up.  The  Car- 
thaginians hesitating  to  comply,  Fabius,  who  was  at  the  head 
of  the  embassy,  exclaimed,  "  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  de- 


310  PLORUS.  BOOK  n. 

lay  ?  In  the  fold  of  this  garment  I  carry  war  and  peace ; 
which  of  the  two  do  you  choose  ?"  As  they  cried  out  "  War," 
"  Take  war,  then,"  he  rejoined,  and,  shaking  out  the  fore-part 
of  his  toga  in  the  middle  of  the  senate-house,  as  if  he  really 
carried  war  in  its  folds,  he  spread  it  abroad,  not  without  awe  on 
the  part  of  the  spectators. 

The  sequel  of  the  war  was  in  conformity  with  its  commen^ 
ment;  for,  as  if  the  last  imprecations  of  the  Saguntines,  a 
their  public  self-immolation  and  burning  of  the  city,  had  re- 
quired such  obsequies  to  be  performed  to  them,  atonement  was 
made  to  their  manes  by  the  devastation  of  Italy,  the  reduction 
of  Africa,  and  the  destruction  of  the  leaders  and  kings  who  en- 
gaged in  that  contest.  When  once,  therefore,  that  sad  and 
dismal  force  and  storm  of  the  Punic  war  had  arisen  in  Spain, 
and  had  forged,  in  the  fire  of  Saguntum,  the  thunderbolt  long 
before  intended  for  the  Romans,  it  immediately  burst,  as  if 
hurried  along  by  resistless  violence,  through  the  middle  of  the 
Alps,  and  descended,  from  those  snows  of  incredible  altitude, 
on  the  plains  of  Italy,  as  if  it  had  been  hurled  from  the  skies. 
The  violence  of  its  first  assault  burst,  with  a  mighty  sound, 
between  the  Po  and  the  Ticinus.  There  the  army  under  Scipio 
was  routed ;  and  the  general  himself,  being  wounded,  would 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  had  not  his  son, 
then  quite  a  boy,41  covered  his  father  with  his  shield,  and 
rescued  him  from  death.  This  was42  the  Scipio  who  grew  up 
for  the  conquest  of  Africa,  and  who  was  to  receive  a  name 
from  its  ill-fortune. 

To  Ticinus  succeeded  Trebia,  where,  in  the  consulship  of 
Sempronius,  the  second  outburst  of  the  Punic  war  was  spent. 
On  that  occasion,  the  crafty  enemy,  having  chosen  a  cold  and 
snowy  day,  and  having  first  warmed  themselves  at  their  fires, 
and  anointed  their  bodies  with  oil,  conquered  us,  though  they 
were  men  that  came  from  the  south  and  a  warm  sun,  by  the 
aid  (strange  to  say) !  of  our  own  winter. 

The  third  thunderbolt43  of  Hannibal  fell  at  the  Trasimeno 

41  Ch.  VI.  Quite  a  boy]  Praitextatus  admodum.  "As  we  say  adnwdum 
puer,  admodum  adolescens."  Salmasius.  He  had  but  just  laid  aside  the  toga 
prcetexta,  and  assumed  the  toga  virttis. 

n  This  was]  Hie  erat.     Duker  and  others  read  crlt. 

48  The  third  thunderbolt,  etc.]  Trasimenm  laaus  tertwtm  fitlmen  ITannl- 
ftal"^.  Literally,  "  The  Trasimene  lake  was  the  third  thunderbolt  of 
Hannibal,"  an  affected  mode  of  expression. 


BOOK  IT.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  311 

lake,  when  Flaminius  was  commander.  There  also  was  em- 
ployed a  new  stratagem  of  Carthaginian  subtlety ;  for  a 
body  of  cavalry,  being  concealed  by  a  mist  rising  from  the 
lake,  and  by  the  osiers  growing  in  the  fens,  fell  upon  the  rear 
of  the  Romans  as  they  were  fighting.  Nor  can  we  complain 
of  the  gods  ;  for  swarms  of  bees  settling  upon  the  standards, 
the  reluctance  of  the  eagles44  to  move  forward,  and  a  great 
earthquake  that  happened  at  the  commencement  of  the 
battle  (unless,  indeed,  it  was  the  trampling  of  horse  and 
foot,  and  the  violent  concussion  of  arms,  that  produced  this 
trembling  of  the  ground),  had  forewarned  the  rash  leader  of 
approaching  defeat. 

The  fourth,  and  almost  mortal  wound  of  the  Roman  empire, 
was  at  Cannae,  an  obscure  village  of  Apulia ;  which,  however, 
became  famous  by  the  greatness  of  the  defeat,  its  celebrity 
being  acquired  by  the  slaughter  of  forty  thousand  men.  Hero 
the  general,  the  ground,  the  face  of  heaven,  the  day,  indeed  all 
nature,  conspired  together  for  the  destruction  of  the  unfortunate 
army.  For  Hannibal,  the  most  artful  of  generals,  not  content 
with  sending  pretended  deserters  among  the  Romans,  Avho  fell 
upon  their  rear  as  they  were  fighting,  but  having  also  noted  the 
nature  of  the  ground  in  those  open  plains,  where  the  heat  of  the 
sun  is  extremely  violent,  the  dust  very  great,  and  the  wind 
blows  constantly,  and  as  it  were  statedly,  from  the  east,  drew 
up  his  army  in  such  a  position,  that,  while  the  Romans  were 
exposed  to  all  these  inconveniences,  he  himself,  having  heaven, 
as  it  were,  on  his  side,  fought  Avith  wind,  dust,  and  sun  in  his 
favor.  Two  vast  armies,45  in  consequence,  were  slaughtered  till 
the  enemy  were  satiated,  and  till  Hannibal  said  to  his  soldiers, 
"  Put  up  your  swords."  Of  the  two  commanders,  one  escaped, 
the  other  was  slain  ;  which  of  them  showed  the  greater  spirit,  is 
doubtful.  Paulus  was  ashamed  to  survive  ;  Varro  did  not  de- 
spair. Of  the  greatness  of  the  slaughter  the  following  proofs 
may  be  noticed  ;  that  the  Aufidus  was  for  some  time  red  with 
!  blood ;  that  a  bridge  was  made  of  dead  bodies,  by  order  of  Han- 
nibal, over  the  torrent  of  Vergellus  ;  and  that  two  modii46  of 

44  Reluctance  of  the  eagles,  etc.]  Aquilz  prodirenoUntes.    The  standards, 
•which  were  fixed  in  the  ground,  could  scarcely  be  pulled  up. 

45  Two  vast  armies]  Duo  maximi  exercitus.     The  armies  of  the  two  con- 
suls, Paulus  -$)milius  and  Varro. 

49  Two  modii]  The  modivs,  in  Dr.  Smith's  Dictionary,  is  said  to  bo  equal 
to  1  gall.  7.8576  pints,  English  measure.  Two  modii  will  therefore  bo  near- 
ly 3t  gallons. 


312  FLORUS.  BOOK  n. 

rings  were  sent  to  Carthage,  and  the  equestrian  dignity  esti- 
mated by  measure. 

It  was  afterward  not  doubted  but  that  Rome  might  have 
seen  its  last  day,  and  that  Hannibal,  within  five  days,  might 
have  feasted  in  the  Capitol,  if  (as  they  say  that  Adherbal,  the 
Carthaginian,  the  son  of  Bomilcar,  observed),  "  he  had  known 
as  well  how  to  use  his  victory  as  how  to  gain  it."  But  at  that 
crisis,  as  is  generally  said,  either  the  fate  of  the  city  that  was  to 
be  empress  of  the  world,  or  his  own  want  of  judgment,  and  the 
influence  of  deities  unfavorable  to  Carthage,  carried  him  in  n 
different  direction.  When  he  might  have  taken  advantage  of 
his  victory,  he  chose  rather  to  seek  enjoyment  from  it,  and, 
leaving  Rome,  to  march  into  Campania  and  to  Tarentum,  where 
both  he  and  his  army  soon  lost  their  vigor,  so  that  it  was  justly 
remarked  that  "  Capua  proved  a  Cannae  to  Hannibal  ;"  since  the 
sunshine  of  Campania,  and  the  warm  springs  of  Baiae,  subdued 
(who  could  have  believed  it  ?)  him  who  had  been  unconquered 
by  the  Alps,  and  unshaken  in  the  field.  In  the  mean  time  the 
Romans  began  to  recover,  and  to  rise  as  it  were  from  the  dead. 
They  had  no  arms,  but  they  took  them  down  from  the  temples  ; 
men  were  wanting,  but  slaves  were  freed  to  take  the  oath  of 
service ;  the  treasury  was  exhausted,  but  the  senate  willingly 
offered  their  wealth  for  the  public  service,  leaving  themselves  no 
gold  but  what  was  contained  in  their  children's  bullce,"  and  in 
their  own  belts  and  rings.  The  knights  followed  their  example, 
and  the  common  people  that  of  the  knights  ;  so  that  when  the 
wealth  of  private  persons  was  brought  to  the  public  treasury, 
(in  the  consulship  of  Laevinus  and  Marcellus),  the  registers 
scarcely  sufficed  to  contain  the  account  of  it,  or  the  hands  of 
the  clerks  to  record  it. 

But  how  can  I  sufficiently  praise48  the  wisdom  of  the  centuries 
in  the  choice  of  magistrates,  when  the  younger  sought  advice 
from  the  elder  as  to  what  consuls  should  be  created  ?  They 
saw  that  against  an  enemy  so  often  victorious,  and  so  full 
of  subtlety,  it  was  necessary  to  contend,  not  only  with  courage, 

47  Bullse]  A  sort  of  ornament  suspended  from  the   necks  of  children, 
which,  among  the  wealthy,  was  made  of  gold.     It  was  in  the  shape  of  a 
bubble  on  water,  or  as  Fiiny  says  (H..  N.,  xxxiii.  1),  ot'  a  heart. 

48  But  how  can  I  sufficiently  praise,  etc.]   Quid  autem  in  deligendismagig- 
tratibwi  qua,  centuriarum  sapientia,  etc.     As  these  words  want  coherence, 
Grsevius  would  omit  the  quid,  and  read  In  deligendis  autem  magistral-Unit 
puce,  etc.    Duker  thinks  it  sufficient  to  understand  dicam  or  memorem: 
Quid  autem  memorem — qu<K  sapientia,  etc. 


BOOK  ii.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  313 

but  with  his  own  wiles.  The  first  hope  of  the  empire,  now  re- 
covering, and,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  coming  to  life  again, 
was  Fabius,  who  found  a  new  mode  of  conquering  Hannibal 
which  was,  not  to  fight.  Hence  he  received  that  new  name,  so 
salutary  to  the  commonwealth,  of  Cunctator,  or  Delayer. 
Hence  too  it  happened,  that  he  was  called  by  the  people  the 
shield  of  the  empire.  Through  the  whole  of  Samnium,  and 
tiirough  the  Falerian  and  Gauran  forests,  he  so  harassed  Han- 
nibal, that  he  who  could  not  be  reduced  by  valor,  was  weakened 
by  delay.  The  Romans  then  ventured,  under  the  command  of 
Claudius  Marcellus,  to  engage  him  ;  they  came  to  close  quar- 
ters with  him,  drove  him  out  of  his  dear  Campania,  and  forced 
him  to  raise  the  siege  of  Nola.  They  ventured  likewise,  under 
the  leadership  of  Sempronius  Gracchus,  to  pursue  him  through 
Lucauia,  and  to  press  hard  upon  his  rear  as  he  retired  ;  though 
they  then  fought  him  (sad  dishonor  !)  with  a  body  of  slaves ; 
for  to  this  extremity  had  so  many  disasters  reduced  them  ;  but 
they  were  rewarded  with  liberty  :49  and  from  slaves  they  made 
them  Romans. 

O  amazing  confidence  in  the  midst  of  so  much  adversity  !  O 
extraordinary  courage  and  spirit  of  the  Roman  people  in  such 
oppressive  and  distressing  circumstances  !  At  a  time  when 
they  were  uncertain  of  preserving  their  own  Italy,  they  yet  ven- 
tured to  look  to  other  countries ;  and  when  the  enemy  were  at 
their  throat,  flying  through  Campania  and  Apulia,  and  making 
an  Africa  in  the  middle  of  Italy,50  they  at  the  same  time  both 
withstood  that  enemy,  and  dispersed  their  arms  over  the  earth 
into  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Spain. 

Sicily  was  assigned  to  Marcellus,  and  did  not  long  resist  his 
efforts ;  for  the  whole  island  was  conquered  in  the  conquest  of 
one  city.  Syracuse,  its  great  and,  till  that  period,  unconquered 
capital,  though  defended  by  the  genius  of  Archimedes,  was  at 
last  obliged  to  yield.  Its  triple  wall,  and  three  citadels,  its  mar- 

4>  But  they  were  rewarded  with  liberty,  etc.]  The  whole  of  the  conclud- 
ing sentence  of  this  paragraph,  in  Dukers  edition,  as  well  as  most  others, 
stands  thus  :  Nam  hue  wque  tot  mala  compulerant,  sed  libertate  donali,  fece- 
rant  de  servitute  Romanes.  The  passage  is  in  some  way  corrupt,  as  all  the 
commentators  have  noticed.  Salmasius  conjectures,  Sed  libertate  donati. 
Fecerat  de  servis  virtus  Romanes.  No  better  emendation  has  been  pro- 
posed. 

*°  Making  an  Africa  in  the  middle  of  Italy]  All  the  editors  have  either 
•mtnif,  de  Italia,  Africam  facerent,  or  Mediamque  jam  de,  etc.    I  have 
followed  the  conjecture'of  N.  Ileinsius,  Mediaque  de  Italia,  Africam  facer- 
<  al. 

14 


314  FLORUS.  BOOK  n. 

ble  harbor,  and  the  celebrated  fountain  of  Arethusa,  were  no 
defense  to  it,  except  so  far  as  to  procure  consideration  for  its 
beauty  when  it  was  conquered. 

Sardinia,  Gracchus  reduced ;  the  savageness  of  the  inhabit- 
ants, and  the  vastness  of  its  Mad  Mountains61  (for  so  they  are 
called),  availed  it  nothing.  Great  severity  was  exercised  upon 
its  cities,  and  upon  Caralis,  the  city  of  its  cities,63  that  a  nation, 
obstinate  and  regardless  of  death,  might  at  least  be  humbled  by 
concern  for  the  soil  of  its  country. 

Into  Spain  were  sent  the  two  Scipios,  Cna?us  and  Publius, 
who  wrested  almost  the  whole  of  it  from  the  Carthaginians ; 
but,  being  surprised  by  the  artifices  of  Punic  subtlety,  they 
again  lost  it,  even  after  they  had  slaughtered  the  enemy's  forces 
in  great  battles.  The  wiles  of  the  Carthaginians  cut  off  one  of 
them  by  the  sword,  as  he  was  pitching  his  camp,  and  the  other 
by  surrounding  him  with  lighted  faggots,  after  he  had  made 
his  escape  into  a  tower.  But  the  other  Scipio,  to  whom  the 
fates  had  decreed  so  great  a  name  from  Africa,  being  sent  with 
an  army  to  revenge  the  death  of  his  father  and  uncle,  recovered 
all  that  warlike  country  of  Spain,  so  famous  for  its  men  and 
arms,  that  seminary  of  the  enemy's  force,  that  instructress  of 
Hannibal,  from  the  Pyrensen  mountains  (the  account  is  scarcely 
credible)  to  the  pillars  of  Hercules  and  the  Ocean,  whether 
with  greater  speed  or  good  fortune,  is  difficult  to  decide  ;  how 
great  was  his  speed,  four  years  bear  witness  ;  ho\y  remarkable 
his  good  fortune,  even  one  city  proves,  for  it  was  taken  on  the 
same  day  in  which  siege  was  laid  to  it,  and  it  was  an  omen  of 
the  conquest  of  Africa  that  Carthage  in  Spain  was  so  easily  re- 
duced. It  is  certain,  however,  that  what  most  contributed  to 
make  the  province  submit,  was  the  eminent  virtue  of  the  gen- 
eral, who  restored  to  the  barbarians  certain  captive  youths  and 
maidens  of  extraordinary  beauty,  not  allowing  them  even  to  be 
brought  into  his  sight,  that  he  might  not  seem,  even  by  a  sin- 
gle glance,  to  have  detracted  from  their  virgin  purity. 

These  actions  the  Romans  performed  in  different  parts  of  the 
world,  yet  were  they  unable,  notwithstanding,  to  remove  Han- 

41  Mad  Mcmntains]  Insanorum  montiwn.  "  A  frigid  and  absurd  conceit 
of  Florus.  These  mountains  were  on  the  sea,  and  startling  in  name  rather 
than  in  reality.  Livy  speaks  of  them,  lib.  xxx.  A  Corsica,  in  Sardinian* 
trajeeit  [Claudius].  Itri,  euperantem  Insanos  Monies — tempeatas — disjecit  das- 
tern.'1'1  Salmasius. 

a  Caralis,  the  city  of  its  cities]   Urbemque  urbium  Caralirn.    Now  Cagliari. 


BOOKH.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  315 

nibal,  who  was  lodged  in  the  heart  of  Italy.  Most  of  the  towns 
had  revolted  to  the  enemy,  whose  vigorous  commander  used 
even  the  strength  of  Italy  against  the  Romans.  However,  we 
had  now  forced  him  out  of  many  towns  and  districts.  Taren- 
tum  had  returned  to  our  side  ;  and  Capua,  the  seat,  home,  and 
second  country  of  Hannibal,  was  again  in  our  hands  ;  the  loss 
of  which  caused  the  Punic  leader  so  much  affliction,  that  ho 
then  directed  all  his  force  against  Rome. 

O  people  worthy  of  the  empire  of  the  world,  worthy  of  the 
favor  and  admiration  of  all,  not  only  men  but  gods  !  Though 
they  were  brought  into  the  greatest  alarm,  they  desisted  not 
from  their  original  design ;  though  they  were  concerned  for 
their  own  city,  they  did  not  abandon  their  attempts  on  Capua ; 
but,  part  of  their  army  being  left  there  with  the  consul  Appius, 
and  part  having  followed  Flaccus  to  Rome,  they  fought  both  at 
home  and  abroad  at  the  same  time.  Why  then  should  we 
wonder  that  the  gods  themselves,  the  gods,  I  say  (nor  shall  I 
be  ashamed63  to  admit  it),  again  opposed  Hannibal  as  he  was 
preparing  to  march  forward  when  at  three  miles'  distance  from 
Rome.  For,  at  every  movement  of  his  force,  so  copious  a  flood 
of  rain  descended,  and  such  a  violent  storm  of  wind  arose,  that 
it  was  evident  the  enemy  was  repulsed  by  divine  influence,  and 
the  tempest  proceeded,  not  from  heaven,  but  from  the  walls  of 
the  city  and  Capitol.  He  therefore  fled  and  departed,  and 
withdrew  to  the  furthest  corner  of  Italy,  leaving  the  city  in  a 
manner  adored.54  It  is  but  small  matter  to  mention,  yet  suffi- 
ciently indicative  of  the  magnanimity  of  the  Roman  people, 
that  during  those  very  days  in  which  the  city  was  besieged,  the 
ground  which  Hannibal  occupied  with  his  camp  was  offered 
for  sale  at  Rome,  and  being  put  up  to  auction,  actually  found 
a  purchaser.  Hannibal,  on  the  other  side,  wished  to  imitate 
such  confidence,  and  put  up  for  sale  the  bankers'  houses  in  the 
city ;  but  no  buyer  was  found ;  so  that  it  was  evident  that  the 
fates  had  their  presages. 

&3  Nor  shall  I  be  ashamed,  etc.]  Why  should  he  be  ashamed  to  admit  that 
Koine  was  saved  by  the  aid  of  the  gods  ?  To  receive  assistance  from  the 
jrods  was  a  proof  of  merit.  The  gods  help  those  who  help  themselves,  says 
the  proverb.  When  he  says  that  the  gods  "  again  opposed  Hannibal,"  he 
seems  to  refer  to  what  he  said  above  in  speaking  of  the  battle  of  Canna;,  that 
the  deities,  averse  to  Carthage,  prevented  Hannibal  from  marching  at  that 
time  to  Rome. 

54  In  a  manner  adored]  Tantum  non  adoratam.  "  Not  being  able  to  take  tha 
city,"  says  Gra3vius,"he  seemed  to  have  come  only  to  look  at  it  and  turn  away, 
as  those  do  who  adore  any  object.  This  is  the  meaning  of  Florus's  conceit." 


316  PLORUS.  BOOK  it 

But  as  yet  nothing  had  been  effectually  accomplished  by  so 
much  valor,  or  even  through  such  eminent  favor  from  the  gods ; 
for  Hasdrubal,  the  brother  of  Hannibal,  was  approaching  with 
a  new  army,  new  strength,  and  every  fresh  requisite  for  war. 
There  had  doubtless  been  an  end  of  Rome,  if  that  general  had 
united  himself  with  his  brother ;  but  Claudius  Nero,  in  con- 
junction with  Livius  Salinator,  overthrew  him  as  he  was  pitch- 
ing his  camp.  Nero  was  at  that  time  keeping  Hannibal  at 
bay  in  the  furthest  corner  of  Italy  ;  while  Livius  had  marched 
to  the  very  opposite  quarter,  that  is,  to  the  very  entrance  and 
confines  of  Italy  ;  and  of  the  ability  and  expedition  with  which 
the  consuls  joined  their  forces  (though  so  vast  a  space,  that  is, 
the  whole  of  Italy  where  it  is  longest,  lay  between  them),  and 
defeated  the  enemy  with,  their  combined  strength,  when  they 
expected  no  attack,  and  without  the  knowledge  of  Hannibal,  it 
ij  difficult  to  give  a  notion.  When  Hannibal,  however,  had 
knowledge  of  the  matter,  and  saw  his  brother's  head  thrown 
down  before  his  camp,  he  exclaimed,  "  I  perceive  the  evil  des- 
tiny of  Carthage."  This  was  his  first  confession  of  that  kind, 
not  without  a  sure  presage  of  his  approaching  fate  ;  and  it  was 
now  certain,  even  from  his  own  acknowledgment,  that  Hanni- 
bal might  be  conquered.  But  the  Roman  people,  full  of  confi- 
dence from  so  many  successes,  thought  it  would  be  a  noble 
enterprise  to  subdue  such  a  desperate  enemy  in  his  own  Africa. 
Directing  their  whole  force,  therefore,  under  the  leadership  of 
Scipio,  upon  Africa  itself,  they  began  to  imitate  Hannibal,  and 
to  avenge  upon  Africa  the  sufferings  of  their  own  Italy.  What 
forces  of  Hasdrubal  (good  go  Is)  !  what  armies  of  Syphax, 
did  that  commander  put  to  flight !  How  great  were  the 
camps  of  both  that  he  destroyed  in  one  night  by  casting  fire- 
brands into  them  !  At  last,  not  at  three  miles'  distance,  but  by 
a  close  siege,  he  shook  the  very  gates  of  Carthage  itself.  And 
thus  he  succeeded  in  drawing  off  Hannibal  when  he  was  still 
clinging  to  and  brooding  over  Italy.  There  was  no  more  re- 
markable day,  during  the  whole  course  of  the  Roman  empire, 
than  that  on  which  these  two  generals,  the  greatest  of  all  that 
ever  lived,  whether  before  or  after  them,  the  one  the  conqueror 
of  Italy,  and  the  other  of  Spain,  drew  up  their  forces  for  a  close 
engagement.  But  previously  a  conference  was  held  between 
them  concerning  conditions  of  peace.  They  stood  motionless 
awhile  iu  admiration  of  each  other.  When  they  could  nut 


BOOK  ii.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  317 

agree  on  a  peace,  they  gave  the  signal  for  bailie.  It  is  c?r!a'n, 
from  the  confession  of  both,  that  no  troops  could  luave  been  bet- 
ter drawn  up,  and  no  fiyht  more  obstinately  maintained.  This 
Hannibal  acknowledged  concerning  the  army  of  Scipio,  and 
Scipio  concerning  that  of  Hannibal.  But  Hannibal  was  forced 
to  yield,  and  Africa  became  the  prize  of  the  victory  ;  and  the 
whole  earth  soon  followed  the  fate  of  Africa. 

CHAP.    VII.       THE    FIRST    MACEDONIAN    WAR. 

When  Carthage  was  overcome,  no  nation  was  ashamed  of 
being  conquered.  The  people  of  Macedonia,  Greece,  Syria,  and 
all  other  countries,  as  if  carried  away  by  a  certain  tide  and 
torrent  of  fortune,  immediately  shared  the  destiny  of  Africa. 
But  the  first  of  all  were  the  Macedonians,  a  people  that  had 
formerly  aspired  to  the  dominion  of  the  world.  Though  Philip, 
therefore,  was  then  king,  the  Romans  seemed  nevertheless  to 
be  fighting  against  king  Alexander.  The  Macedonian  war  was 
greater  from  its  name  than  from  any  regard  due  to  the  nation 
itself.  It  had  its  origin  from  a  treaty  of  Philip,  by  which  he 
had  joined  to  himself  Hannibal  when  he  was  previously  tri- 
umphant in  Italy.  Further  cause  was  then  given  for  it,  by  an 
application  from  Athens  for  relief  against  the  injuries  of  the 
king,  at  a  time  when,  beyond  the  just  rights  of  victory,  he  was 
wreaking  his  fury  upon  their  temples,  altars,  and  the  sepulchers 
of  the  dead.  To  petitioners  of  such  consideration  the  senate 
thought  it  right  to  give  assistance  ;  for  kings,  commanders, 
peoples,  and  nations,  were  now  seeking  protection  from  this  one 
city.  Under  the  consul  Laevinus,  therefore,  the  Roman  people, 
having  entered  the  Ionian  Sea  for  the  first  time,  coasted  along 
the  whole  of  Greece  with  their  fleet,  as  if  in  triumph  ;  for  it 
carried  all  the  spoils  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  Spain,  and  Africa  ;  and 
a  laurel  that  grew  up65  in  the  general's  ship,  promised  certain 
victory.  Attalus,  king  of  Pergamus,  came  of  his  own  accord  to 
their  assistance  ;  the  Rhodians,  too,  came,  who  were  a  naval 
people,  and  who  struck  terror  into  all  parts  by  sea  with  their 
ships,  while  the  consul  did  the  same  on  land  with  his  horse  and 
foot.  The  king  was  twice  defeated,  twice  put  to  flight,  and 
twice  despoiled  of  his  camp  ;  but  nothing  was  more  terrible 


M  A  laurel  that  grew  up,  etc.]  Nata  in  pragf^-iA  puppe  laurus.  This  is 
mentioned  by  Livy,  xxxii.  1,  as  having  beeii  reported  to  the  senate  by  tha 
proconsul  P.  Sulpicius. 


31  &  FLORUS.  BOOKn. 

to  tlie  Macedonians  than  the  sight  of  their  wounds,  which  were 
not  inflicted  with  darts,  arrows,  or  any  Grecian  weapon,  but 
with  huge  javelins,  and  swords  of  no  less  weight,  and  gaped 
beyond  what  was  necessary  for  producing  death.66 

Under  the  conduct  of  Flaminius,  too,  we  penetrated  the 
mountains  of  the  Chaonians,  which  were  before  impassable,  and 
the  river  Aous,"  flowing  through  steep  places  which  form  the 
very  barriers  of  Macedonia.  To  have  effected  an  entrance,  was 
victory  ;  for  the  king,  never  afterward  venturing  into  the  field, 
was  forced  to  submission  in  one  engagement,  which  indeed  was 
far  from  being  a  regular  battle,  at  the  hills  which  they  call 
Cynoscephalae.  But  the  consul  granted  him  peace,  and  restored 
him  his  kingdom  ;  and  afterward,  that  no  enemy  might  be  left 
behind,  reduced  Thebes,  Euboea,  and  LacedaBmon,  which  was 
making  some  attempts  at  opposition  under  its  tyrant  Nabis. 
To  Greece  he  then  restored  its  ancient  condition,  allowed  it  to 
live  according  to  its  own  laws,  and  to  enjoy  its  ancient  liberty. 
What  rejoicings,  what  shouts  of  pleasure,  were  heard,  when 
this  was  proclaimed  by  the  herald  at  the  quinquennial  games, 
in  the  theater  at  Numea  !  What  an  emulation  of  applause  was 
there !  what  flowers  did  they  heap  upon  the  consul !  They 
called  on  the  herald  to  repeat  the  proclamation,  in  which  the 
liberty  of  Achaia68  was  declared,  again  and  again  ;  nor  did  they 
enjoy  the  declaration  of  the  consul  less  than  the  most  harmo- 
nious concert  of  flutes  and  harps. 


CHAP.  VIII.     THE  SYRIAN  WAR  AGAINST  KING  ANTIOCHTTS. 

Antiochus  immediately  followed  the  fate  of  Macedonia  and 
king  Philip  ;  fortune,  by  a  certain  influence,  and  as  if  by  design, 
directing  affairs  in  such  a  manner,  that  as  the  empire  had  ad- 
vanced from  Africa  into  Europe,  so,  from  occasions  sponta- 
neously presenting  themselves,  it  might  proceed  from  Europe 
into  Africa,  and  that  the  order  of  its  victories  might  keep  its 
course  according  to  the  situation  of  the  quarters  of  the  world. 
As  far  as  the  report  of  it  was  concerned,  there  never  was  any 

*«  Beyond  what  was  necessary  for  producing  death]  Ultra  mortem.  "Ma- 
jora  erant  quam  neeesse  asset  ad  mortem  inferendam."  RycMus.  Some 
copies  have  ultra  m&rem. 

^  Aous]  A  river  of  Illyricum,  flowing  into  the  Ionian  Sea,  mentioned  hy 
Livy,  xxxii.,  21,  xxxviii.  49. 

64  Achaia]  The  name  which  the  Eomans  gave  to  Greece  as  their  province. 


BOOKIT.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  319 

war  more  formidable,  when  the  Romans  reflected  upon  the 
Persians  and  the  east,  upon  Xerxes  and  Darius,  and  the  times 
when  impassable  mountains  are  said  to  have  been  cut  through, 
and  the  sea  to  have  been  hidden  with  sails.  An  apparent  menace 
from  heaven  also  alarmed  them,  for  Apollo,  at  Cumae,  was  in  a 
constant  perspiration ;  but  this  was  only  the  fear  of  the  god, 
under  concern  for  his  beloved  Asia. 

To  say  the  truth,  no  country  is  better  furnished  with  men, 
money,  and  arms,  than  Syria ;  but  it  had  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  so  spiritless  a  monarch,  that  the  highest  praise  of  Antiochus 
was  that  he  was  conquered  by  the  Romans.  There  were  two 
persons  who  impelled  the  king  to  this  war;  on  the  one  hand 
Thoas,  prince  of  ^Etolia,  who  complained  that  his  service  in  the 
war  against  Macedonia  had  not  been  sufficiently  rewarded  by 
the  Romans  ;  on  the  other,  Hannibal,  who,  conquered  in  Africa, 
exiled  from  his  country,  and  impatient  of  peace,  was  seeking 
through  the  whole  world  for  an  enemy  to  the  Roman  people. 
And  how  great  would  the  danger  have  been  to  Rome,  if  the 
king  had  been  guided  by  his  directions,  that  is,  if  the  desperate 
Hannibal  had  wielded  the  whole  power  of  Asia  !  But  the  king, 
trusting  to  his  resources,  and  to  the  mere  title  of  monarch, 
thought  it  enough  to  begin  the  war.5*  Europe,  without  dis- 
pute, was  now  the  property  of  the  Romans  ;  but  Antiochus  de- 
manded from  them  Lysimachia,  a  city  founded  by  his  ancestors 
on  the  coast  of  Thrace,  as  if  it  were  his  by  hereditary  right. 
By  the  influence  of  this  star,60  so  to  speak,  the  tempest  of  the 
Asiatic  war  was  raised.  But  this  greatest  of  kings,  content 
with  having  boldly  declared  war,  and  having  marched  out  of 
Asia  with  a  great  noise  and  tumult,  and  taken  possession  of  the 
islands  an  1  coasts  of  Greece,  thought  of  nothing  but  ease  and 
luxury,  as  if  he  were  already  conqueror. 

The  Euripus  divides  from  the  continent  the  island  of  Eubcea, 
which  is  close  to  it,  by  a  narrow  strait,  the  waters  of  which  are 
continually  ebbing  and  flowing.  Here  Antiochus,  having 
erected  tents  of  cloth  of  gold  and  silk,  close  to  the  murmuring 
noise  of  the  stream,  while  the  music  of  flutes  and  stringed  in- 

89  Ch.  VIII.  To  begin  the  war]  Bettum  movere.  So,  just  below,  con- 
tentus  fortiter  indixisse  lieUitm. 

•°  Tnis  star]  Hoc  vettut  sidere.  "  That  is,  this  dispute  was  the  cause  of  the 
Asiatic  war,  a§  the  rising  or  setting  of  certain  stars,  such  as  Arcturus,  the 
Ilyades,  and  Pleiades,  occasions  tempests.  Nam,  ut  tempestatis  saepe  certo 
aliqtto  codi  signo  commoventur,  eic  in  hoc  comitiorum  tempestateyxmulari  seep* 
intelligas,  quo  signo  commota  tit.  Cic.  pro.  Munen.,  c.  17."  Duker. 


320  FLORUS.  BOOK  n. 

struments  mingled  with  the  sound  of  the  waters,  and  having 
collected  roses,  though  it  was  winter,  from  all  quarters,  formed 
levies,  that  he  might  seem  in  every  way  a  general,  of  damsels 
and  youths.  Such  a  king,  already  vanquished  by  his  own 
luxury,  the  Roman  people,  under  the  command  of  the  consul 
Aciliua  Glabrio,  having  approached  while  he  was  still  on  the 
island,  compelled  him  to  flee  from  it  by  the  very  news  of  their 
coming.  Having  then  overtaken  him,  as  he  was  fleeing  with 
precipitation,  at  Thermopylae,  a  place  memorable  for  the  glorious 
death  of  the  three  hundred  Spartans,  they  obliged  him  (not 
having  confidence  in  the  ground  so  as  to  make  resistance  even 
there)  to  flee  before  them  by  sea  and  land.  Without  the  least 
delay  they  proceeded  straight  into  Syria.  The  king's  fleet  was 
committed  to  Polyxenides  and  Hannibal,  for  Antiochus  himself 
could  not  endure  to  look  on  the  fight ;  and  it  was  wholly  de- 
stroyed by  the  Roman  general,  JEmilius  Regillus,  the  Rhodians 
lending  him  their  assistance.  Let  not  Athens  plume  itself  on 
its  victories  ;  in  Antiochus  we  conquered  a  Xerxes ;  in  ^Emilius 
we  equaled  Themistocles ;  in  our  triumph  at  Ephesus01  we 
matched  that  at  Salamis. 

The  Romans  then  determined  on  the  entire  subjugation  of 
Antiochus  under  the  generalship  of  the  consul  Scipio,  whom  his 
brother  Africanus,  recently  conqueror  of  Carthage,  voluntarily 
accompanied  in  the  character  of  lieutenant-general.  The  king 
had  given  up  the  whole  of  the  sea ;  but  we  proceeded  beyond 
it.  Our  camp  was  pitched  by  the  river  Mreander  and  Mount 
Sipylus.  Here  the  king  had  taken  his  position,  with  so  many 
auxiliary  and  other  forces  as  is  quite  incredible.  There  were 
three  hundred  thousand  foot,  and  no  less  a  number,  in  propor- 
tion,62 of  cavalry  and  chariots  armed  with  scythes.  He  had 
also  defended  his  army,  on  either  side,  with  el'ephants  of  a  vast 
size,  making  a  gay  appearance  with  gold,  purple,  silver,  and 
their  own  ivory.  But  all  this  mighty  force  was  embarrassed  by 
its  own  vastness,  as  well  as  by  a  shower  of  rain,  which,  pouring 
1  down  on  a  sudden,  had,  with  wonderful  luck  for  us,  spoiled  the 
Persian  bows.  There  was  at  first  consternation,  next  flight,  and 

81  In  our  triumph  at  Ephesus]  Ephesus.  "  We  mnst  read  Epheso,  for  the 
Eomans  did  not  fight  with  the  Ephealam,  but  with  the  fleet  of  Autiochus  at 
Myonesus,  not  far  from  Ephesus."  Q-rae,vlu,s. 

ea  No  less  a  number  in  proportion,  etc.]  Equitum  falcatorumque  curruum 
non  minor  numerus.  It  is  necessary  to  supply  the  words  in  proportion  in 
the  translation.  "  The  sense  is,  that  the  number  of  calvary  and  chariots 
was  not  less  than  the  multitude  of  infantry  required."  Freinshemvut, 


BOOK  ii.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  321 

then  a  triumph.  To  Antiochus,  vanquished  and  suppliant,  it 
was  resolved  to  grant  peace  and  a  portion  of  his  kingdom ;  and 
this  the  more  readily,  because  he  had  so  easily  yielded. 


CHAP.  IX.       THE  ^ETOLIAN  WAR. 

To  the  Syrian  war  succeeded,  as  was  to  be  expected,  that  of 
.^Etolia ;  for  after  Antiochus  was  conquered,  the  Romans  pur^ 
sued  the  incendiaries  of  the  Asiatic  war.  The  charge  of  taking 
vengeance  on  them  was  committed  to  Fulvius  Nobilior,  who 
immediately,  with  his  engines  of  war,  assaulted  Ambracia,  the 
metropolis  of  the  nation,  and  some  time  the  royal  residence  of 
Pyrrhus.  A  surrender  followed.  The  Athenians  and  Rhodians 
supported  the  entreaties  of  the  JEtolians  for  mercy  ;  and,  as  we 
remembered  the  aid63  which  they  had  given  us,  we  resolved  to 
pardon  them.  But  the  war  spread  widely  among  their  neigh- 
bors, and  through  all  Cephallenia  and  Zacynthus ;  and  what- 
ever islands  lie  in  that  sea  between  the  Ceraunian  mountains 
and  the  promc-ntory  of  Malea,  became  a  portion  of  our  conquests 
in  that  war. 

CHAP.  X.      THE  ISTRIAN  WAR. 

The  Istrians  shared  the  fortune  of  the  -^Etolians,  whom  they 
had  recently  assisted  in  their  warlike  efforts.  The  commence- 
ment of  the  enemy's  military  operations  was  successful,  but  that 
very  success  was  the  cause  of  their  overthrow.  For  after  they 
had  taken  the  camp  of  Cnaeus  Manlius,  and  were  devoting  them- 
selves to  the  enjoyment  of  a  rich  spoil,  Appius  Pulcher  attacked 
them  as  they  were  mostly  feasting  and  reveling,  and  not  know- 
ing, from  the  influence  of  their  cups,  where  they  were.  Thus 
they  yielded  up  their  ill-gotten  prey  with  their  blood  and 
breath.  Apulo,  their  king,  being  set  on  horseback,  because  he 
was  constantly  stumbling  from  intoxication  and  lightness  of 
Loa-1,  could  scarcely  be  made  sensible,  after  he  came  to  himself, 
that  he  was  a  prisoner. 

"3  Ch.  IX.  We  remember  the  aid,  etc.]  "  The  assistance  which  they  had 
given  na  against  Philip,  which  Hannibal,  in  Livy,  xxxvi.  7,  and  Livy  him- 
self, lib.  xxxiii.,  thought  of  so  much  consequence,  that  they  attribute  to  it 
the  victory  of  the  Romans.  Julian,  too,  in  his  Caesars,  speaks  highly  of 
the  jEtolians.  and  savs  that  they  were  not  conquered  by  the  Romans  with- 
out extreme  hazard.1'  Freinshemii&s. 

14* 


822  FLORUS.  BOOK  n. 


CHAP.  XI.      THE  GALLO-GRECIAN  WAR. 

The  disaster  of  the  Syrian  war  involved  in  it  also  the  Gallo- 
(rrecians.  Whether  they  had  really  been  among  the  auxilia- 
ries of  king  Antiochus,  or  whether  Manlius,  too  desirous  of 
a  triumph,  merely  pretended  that  they  were,  is  doubtful.  But 
it  is  certain  that,  though  he  was  successful,  a  triumph  was  de- 
nied him,  because  the  senate  did  not  approve  of  his  reasons  for 
the  war. 

'The  nation  of  the  Gallo-Grecians,  as  the  name  itself  indicates, 
were  mixed  and  adulterated  relics  of  the  Gauls  who  had  devas- 
tated Greece  under  Brennus,  and  who,  afterward,  marching  east- 
ward, settled  in  the  interior  of  Asia.  But  as  the  seeds  of  fruits 
degenerate  when  their  soil  is  changed,  so  the  native  savageness 
of  those  settlers  was  softened  by  the  gentle  air  of  Asia.  In  two 
battles,  therefore,  they  were  routed  and  dispersed,  although  they 
had  left  their  abodes  at  the  enemy's  approach,  and  retreated  to 
certain  lofty  mountains  which  the  Tolostobogi  and  Testosagi 
then  occupied.  Both  these  tribes,  being  harassed  with  slings 
and  arrows,  surrendered  themselves,  promising  to  observe  unin- 
terrupted peace.  But  those  that  had  been  captured  excited  our 
wonder  by  attempting  to  bite  their  chains  with  their  teeth,  and 
offering  their  throats  to  one  another  to  be  strangled.  The  wife 
of  king  Orgiagon,  having  suffered  violence  at  the  hands  of  a 
centurion,  made  her  escape,  by  a  remarkable  effort,  from  her 
guards,  and  brought  the  soldier's  head,  which  she  had  cut  off, 
to  her  husband. 

CHAP.  XII.      THE  SECOND  MACEDONIAN  WAR. 

While  nation  after  nation  fell  in  the  ruin  of  the  Syrian  war, 
Macedonia  again  roused  herself.  The  recollection  and  consider- 
ation of  their  former  eminence  excited  that  brave  people  to 
action.  To  Philip  had  succeeded  his  son  Perses,  who  thought 
it  unbecoming  the  dignity  of  the  nation,  that  Macedonia,  by 
being  once  conquered,  should  be  conquered  forever.  The 
Macedonians  accordingly  arose  under  him  with  much  more 
spirit  than  they  had  shown  under  his  father.  They  induced 
the  Thracians. to  join  their  party,  and  thus  tempered  the  dex- 
terity of  the  Macedonians  with  the  robust  valor  of  the  Thracians, 
and  the  daring  spirit  of  the  Thracians  with  the  discipline  of  the 


BOOK  ii.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  323 

Macedonians.  To  this  arrangement  was  added  the  prudence  of 
tlie  prince,  who,  having  surveyed  the  face  of  the  country  from 
the  top  of  Haemus,  and  having  pitched  several  camps  in  steep 
places,  and  so  secured  his  kingdom  with  men  and  arms,  that  he 
seemed  to  have  left  no  access  for  enemies,  unless  they  came 
down  from  heaven. 

But  the  Romans,64  under  the  consul  Marcius  Philippus,  hav- 
ing entered  the  province,  and  having  carefully  explored  the  ap- 
proaches by  the  lake  of  Astrus,65  over  troublesome  and  danger- 
ous hills,  and  heights  which  seemed  inaccessible  even  to  birds, 
forced  a  passage  for  themselves,  and,  by  a  sudden  inroad 
of  war,  alarmed  the  king,  who  was  lying  secure,  and  ap- 
prehending nothing  of  the  kind.  His  consternation  was  so 
great,  that  he  ordered  all  his  money  to  be  thrown  into  the  sea, 
lest  it  should  be  lost,"  and  his  fleet  to  be  burned,  lest  it  should 
be  set  on  fire. 

Under  the  consul  Paulus,  when  stronger  garrisons,  in  great 
numbers^  had  been  stationed  on  the  frontiers,  Macedonia  was 
surprised  by  other  ways,  through  the  consummate  art  and  perse- 
verance of  the  general,  who  made  a  feint  on  one  part,  and  effect- 
ed an  entrance  at  another ;  and  whose  mere  approach  was  so 
alarming  to  the  king,  that  he  durst  not  meet  the  enemy  in  the 
field,  but  committed  the  management  of  the  struggle  to  his 
generals.  Being  vanquished,  therefore,  in  his  absence,  he  fled 
to  the  sea,  and  took  refuge  in  the  island  of  Samothrace,  trusting 
to  the  well-known  sanctity  of  the  place,  as  if  temples  and  altars 
could  protect  him  whom  his  mountains  and  arms  could  not 
defend. 

No  monarch  longer  cherished  regret  for  his  lost  dignity. 
When  he  wrote  as  a  suppliant  to  the  Roman  general,  from  the 
temple  to  which  he  had  fled,  and  set  his  name  to  the  letter,  he 

M  But  the  Romans]  Nam—populus  Romanes.  As  nam  seems  out  of  place 
here,  N.  Heinsius  suggested  tamen. 

6S  The  lake  of  Astrus]  Astrudemjpaludem.  As  this  lake  is  nowhere  else 
mentioned,  the  critics  in  general  think  the  passage  corrupt;  and  Salmatius 
proposes  to  read  Bistonidem  paludem.  Livy,  in  his  narrative  of  the  &arne 
circumstances  (xliv.  2),  has  Ascuridem  paludem. 

•»  Thrown  into  the  sea,  lest  it  should  be  lost,  etc.]  An  allusion,  aa  ?vein- 
Bhemius  thinks,  to  Martial,  Ep.  ii.  80 : 

Sostem  cum,  fugeret,  se  Fannius^  ipseperemii : 
Die  rogo,  non  furor  est,  ne  moriare  mori  ? 
Fannius,  to  'scape  his  foes,  stopp'd  his  own  breath  • 
Was  he  not  mad  to  die  from  fear  of  death  ? 


324  FLORUS. 

added  King  to  it.  But  no  general  was  over  more  respectful  lo 
captive  majesty  than  Paulus.  When  his  enemy  came  within 
siii'ht,  he  invited  him  into  his  tent,  entertained  him  at  his  own 
tal»le,  and  admonished  his  own  sons  to  worship  fortune  whose 
power  was  so  great. 

The  triumph  over  Macedonia  the  Roman  people  also  estimat- 
ed and  viewed  as  among  the  most  glorious  that  they  had  ever 
known ;  for  they  occupied  three  days  in  witnessing  it.  The  first 
day  displayed  the  statues  and  pictures ;  the  second,  the  arms 
and  treasures  ;  and  the  third,  the  captives  and  the  king  himself, 
who  was  still  in  a  state  of  amazement,  and  as  it  were  stupefied 
at  the  suddenness  of  his  calamity 

The  people  of  Rome  received  the  joyful  news  of  this  victory 
long  before  they  learned  it  from  the  general's  letter  ;  for  it  was 
known  at  Rome  on  the  very  same  day  on  which  Perses  was 
conquered.  Two  young  men,  with  white  horses,  were  seen  cleans- 
ing themselves  from  dust  and  blood  at  the  lake  of  Juturna ; 
and  these  brought  the  news.  It  was  generally  supposed  that 
they  were  Castor  and  Pollux,  because  they  were  two  ;  that  they 
had  been  present  at  the  battle,  because  they  were  wet  with  blood  ; 
and  that  they  had  come  from  Macedonia,  because  they  were  still 
out  of  breath. 

CHAP.  XIII.      THE  ILLYRIAN  WAR. 

The  contagion  of  the  Macedonian  war  involved  the  Illyrians. 
They  had  served  in  it,  having  been  hired  by  king  Perses  to 
harass  the  Romans  in  the  rear.  They  were  subdued  without 
loss  of  time  by  the  praetor  Anicius.  It  was  only  necessary  to 
destroy  Scorda  the  capital,  and  a  surrender  immediately  follow- 
ed. The  war  was  indeed  finished  before  the  news  reached  Rome 
that  it  was  commenced. 

CHAP.  XIV.     THE  THIRD  MACEDONIAN  WAR. 

By  some  appointment  of  destiny,  as  if  it  had  been  so  agreed 
'  between  the  Carthaginians  and  Macedonians,  that  they  should 
each  be  conquered  a  third  time,  both  assumed  arms  at  the  same 
juncture,  though  the  Macedonians  took  the  lead  in  shaking  off 
the  yoke,  being  grown  more  formidable  than  before  by  having 
been  despised.  The  occasion  of  the  war  is  almost  to  be  blushed 
at ;  for  one  Andriscus,  a  man  of  the  lowest  rank,  seized  the 
throne,  and  commenced  a  war  against  the  Romans,  at  the  same 


ii.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  325 

lime.  Whether  he  was  a  freeman  or  a  slave  is  doubtful,  but  it 
is  certain  that  he  had  worked  for  pay.  Being,  however,  from  a 
resemblance  to  king  Philip,  generally  called  Pseudo-Philip,  he 
sustained  the  person  and  name  of  a  king  with  the  spirit  of  a 
king.  The  Romans  slighting  these  proceedings  on  his  part,  and 
being  content  with  the  services  of  the  praetor  Juventius  against 
him,  rashly  engaged  the  man  when  he  was  strengthened  not 
only  with  the  troops  of  Macedonia,  but  also  with  vast  forces 
'  from  Thrace,  and  they  that  were  invincible  against  real  kings, 
were  defeated  by  this  imaginary  and  pretended  king.  But  un- 
der the  consulship  of  Metellus  they  took  ample  revenge  for  the 
loss  of  their  praetor  and  his  legion  ;  for  they  not  only  reduced 
Macedonia  to  servitude,  but  brought  the  leader  in  the  war,  who 
was  given  up  to  them  by  a  petty  prince  of  Thrace  to  whom  he 
fled,  in  chains  to  the  city,  Fortune  indulgently  granting  him 
this  favor  in  his  misfortunes,  that  the  Roman  people  triumphed 
over  him  as  a  real  king. 

CHAP.  XV.     THE  THIRD  PUXIC  WAR. 

The  third  war  with  Africa  was  both  short  in  its  duration  (for 
it  was  finished  in  four  years),  and,  compared  with  those  that 
preceded  it,  of  much  less  difficulty  ;  as  we  had  to  fight,  not  so 
much  against  troops  in  the  field,  as  against  the  city  itself;  but 
it  was  far  the  greatest  of  the  three  in  its  consequences,  for  in  it 
Carthage  was  at  last  destroyed.  And  if  any  one  contemplates 
the  events  of  the  three  periods,  he  will  understand  that  the  war 
was  begun  in  the  first,  greatly  advanced  in  the  second,  and  en- 
tirely finished  in  the  third. 

The  cause  of  this  war  was,  that  Carthage,  in  violation  of  an 
article  in  the  treaty,  had  once  fitted  out  a  fleet  and  army  against 
the  Numidians,  and  had  frequently  threatened  the  frontiers  of 
Masinissa.  But  the  Romans  were  partial  to  this  good  king, 
who  was  also  their  ally. 

When  the  Avar  had  been  determined  upon,  they  had  to  con- 
eider  about  the  end  of  it.  Cato,  even  when  his  opinion  was 
asked  on  any  other  subject,  pronounced,  with  implacable  en- 
lin'ty,  that  Carthage  should  be  destroyed.  Scipio  Nasica  gave 
his  voice  for  its  preservation,  lest,  if  the  fear  of  the  rival  city 
were  removed,  the  exultation  of  Rome  should  grow  extravagant. 
The  senate  decided  on  a  middle  course,  resolving  that  the  city 
should  only  be  removed  from  its  place  ;  for  nothing  appeared 


326  FLORUS.  HOOK  n. 

to  them  more  glorious  than  that  there  should  be  a  Carthage 
which  should  not  be  feared.  In  the  consulship  of  Manlius  and 
Censorinus,  therefore,  the  Roman  people  having  attacked  Car- 
thage, but  giving  them  some  hopes  of  peace,  burned  their  fleet, 
which  they  voluntarily  delivered  up,  in  sight  of  the  city.  Hav- 
ing next  summoned  the  chief  men,  they  commanded  them  to 
quit  the  place  if  they  wished  to  preserve  their  lives.  This 
requisition,  from  its  cruelty,  so  incensed  them,  that  they  chose 
rather  to  submit  to  the  utmost  extremities.  They  accordingly 
bewailed  their  necessities  publicly,  and  shouted  with  one  voice 
to  arms ;  and  a  resolution  was  made  to  resist  the  enemy  by 
every  means  in  their  power ;  not  because  any  hope  of  success 
waa  left,  but  because  they  had  rather  their  birth-place  should 
be  destroyed  by  the  hands  of  the  enemy  than  by  their  own. 
With  what  spirit  they  resumed  the  war,  may  be  understood 
from  the  facts  that  they  pulled  down  their  roofs  and  houses  for 
the  equipment  of  a  new  fleet ;  that  gold  and  silver,  instead  of 
brass  and  iron,  was  melted  in  their  forges  for  the  construction 
of  arms  ;  and  that  the  women  parted  with  their  hair  to  make 
cordage  for  the  engines  of  war. 

Under  the  command  of  the  consul  Mancinus,  the  siege  was 
warmly  conducted  both  by  land  and  sea.  The  harbor  was  dis- 
mantled of  its  works,  and  a  first,  second,  and  even  third  wall 
taken,  while  nevertheless  the  Byrsa,  which  was  the  name  of 
the  citadel,  held  out  like  another  city.  But  though  the  de- 
struction of  the  place  was  thus  very  far  advanced,  it  was  the 
name  of  the  Scipios  only  that  seemed  fatal  to  Africa.  The 
government,  accordingly,  applying  to  another  Scipio,  desired 
from  him  a  termination  of  the  war.  This  Scipio,  the  son  of 
Paulus  Macedonicus,  the  son  of  the  great  Africanus  had  adopted 
as  an  honor  to  his  family,  and,  as  it  appeared,  with  this  destiny, 
that  the  grandson  should  overthrow  the  city  which  the  grand- 
father had  shaken.  But  as  the  bites  of  dying  beasts  are  wont 
to  be  most  fatal,  so  there  was  more  trouble  with  Carthage  half- 
ruined,  than  when  it  was  in  its  full  strength.  The  Romans 
having  shut  the  enemy  up  in  their  single  fortress,  had  also  j 
blockaded  the  harbor ;  but  upon  this  they  dug  another  harbor 
on  the  other  side  of  the  city,  not  with  a  design  to  escape,  but 
because  no  one  supposed  that  they  could  even  force  an  outlet 
there.  Here  a  new  fleet,  as  if  just  born,  started  forth  ;  and,  in 
the  mean  while,  sometimes  by  day  and  sometimes  by  night, 


SOOK  n.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  32 T 

some  new  mole,  some  new  machine,  some  new  band  of  desper- 
ate men,  perpetually  started  up,  like  a  sudden  flaine  from  a  fire 
sunk  in  ashes.  At  last,  their  affairs  becoming  desperate,  forty 
thousand  men,  and  (what  is  hardly  credible)  with  Hasdiubal 
jit  their  head,  surrendered  themselves.  How  much  more 
nobly  did  a  woman  behave,  the  wife  of  the  general,  who, 
taking  hold  of  her  two  children,  threw  herself  from  the  top  of 
her  house  into  the  midst  of  the  flames,  imitating  the  queen 
that  built  Carthage.  How  great  a  city  was  then  destioyed,  is 
shown,  to  say  nothing  of  other  things,  by  the  duration  of  the 
fire,  for  the  flames  could  scarcely  be  extinguished  at  the  end 
of  seventeen  days ;  flames  which  the  enemy  themselves  had 
raised  in  their  houses  and  temples,  that  since  the  city  could 
not  be  rescued  from  the  Romans,  all  matter  for  triumph  might 
at  least  be  burned. 

CHAP.    XVI.      THE    ACHAEAN    WAR. 

As  if  this  age  had  been  destined  for  the  subversion  of  cities, 
Corinth,  the  metropolis  of  Achaia,  the  ornament  of  Greece, 
situated,  as  if  for  an  object  of  admiration,  between  the  Ionian 
and  .^Egean  Seas,  soon  after  shared  the  fate  of  Carthage.  This 
city  (a  proceeding  unworthy  of  the  Roman  name)  was  de- 
stroyed even  before  it  was  counted  among  the  number  of  un- 
doubted enemies.  The  cause  of  the  war  was  Critolaus,67  who 
used  the  liberty  granted  him  by  the  Romans  against  them- 
selves, and  insulted  the  embassadors  sent  from  Rome,  whether 
by  personal  violence  is  doubtful,  but  certainly  by  words.  Re- 
venge for  this  affront  was  committed  to  Metellus,  who  was  at 
that  time  settling  the  state  of  Macedonia  ;  and  hence  arose 
the  Achaean  war.  In  the  first  place,  Metellus,  now  consul,  cut 
to  pieces  the  force. of  Critolaus  on  the  open  plains  of  Elis,  and 
along  the  whole  course  of  the  Alpheus.  The  war  was  indeed 
ended  in  one  battle  ;  and  a  siege  threatened  the  city  itself ; 
but  (such  is  the  fortune  of  events),  after  Metellus  had  fought, 
Mummius  came  to  take  the  victory.  He  scattered,  far  and 
wide,  the  army  of  the  other  general  Dseus,  at  the  very  en- 
trance of  the  Isthmus,  and  dyed  its  two  harbors  with  blood. 
At  length  the  city,  being  forsaken  by  the  inhabitant  s,  was  first 
plundered,  and  then  pulled  down  to  the  sound  of  trumpets. 
What  a  profusion  of  statues,  of  garments,  of  pictures,  was  then 
*•  Ch.  XVI.  Critolaus]  He  was  chief  of  the  Achasan  league. 


328  FLORUS,  BOOK  IT. 

burned  or  scattered  abroad !  How  great  wealth  the  general 
then  both  carried  off  and  burned,  may  be  known  from  this  fact, 
that  whatever  Corinthian  brass  is  held  in  esteem  throughout 
the  world,  we  find  to  have  been  the  relics  of  that  conflagration. 
The  ruin  of  that  most  opulent  city  even  made  the  value  of  this 
brass  the  greater,  inasmuch  as,  when  many  statues  and  images 
were  melted  together  in  the  fire,  veins  of  brass,  gold,  and  silver, 
ran  together  into  one  mass. 

CHAP.    XVII.      AFFAIRS    IN    SPAIN. 

As  Corinth  followed  the  fortune  of  Carthage,  so  Numantia 
followed  that  of  Corinth.  Nor  was  there  a  single  place, 
throughout  the  whole  world,  that  was  afterward  untouched  by 
the  Roman  arms.  After  the  famous  conflagrations  of  these 
two  cities,  there  was  war  far  and  wide,  not  with  different  na- 
tions one  after  another,  but,  as  it  were,  one  war  pervading  the 
whole  world  at  the  same  time  ;  so  that  those  cities  seemed,  as 
if  by  the  action  of  the  winds,  to  have  dispersed  certain  sparks 
of  war  over  the  whole  globe.  Spain  never  had  the  determina- 
tion to  rise  in  a  body  against  us ;  it  never  thought  of  uniting 
its  strength,  or  making  an  effort  for  empire,  or  combining  for  a 
general  defense  of  its  liberty ;  else  it  is  so  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  the  sea  and  the  Pyrenees,  that,  by  the  very  nature  of 
its  situation,  it  is  secure  from  all  attacks.  But  it  was  beset  by 
the  Romans  before  it  knew  itself,  and  was  the  only  one  of  all 
their  provinces  that  did  not  discover  its  strength  till  it  was 
subdued. 

The  war  in  this  country  lasted  nearly  two  hundred  years, 
from  the  time  of  the  first  Scipios  to  Caesar  Augustus,  not 
continuously  or  without  intermission,  but  as  occasions  excited 
the  Romans ;  nor  was  the  dispute  at  first  with  the  Spaniards, 
but  with  the  Carthaginians  in  Spain,  from  whom  proceeded  the 
contagion,  and  connection,  and  causes  of  all  the  contentions. 
The  two  Scipios,  Publius  and  Cnaeus,  earned  the  first  Roman 
standards  over  the  Pyrenaean  mountains,  and  defeated  Hanno, 
and  Hasdrubal  the  brother  of  Hannibal,  in  important  battles ; 
and  Spain  would  have  been  carried  as  it  were  by  assault,  had 
not  those  gallant  men  been  surprised  by  Punic  subtlety  in  the 
height  of  victory,  and  cut  off  at  a  time  when  they  were  con- 
querors by  land  and  sea.  That  Scipio,  therefore,  who  was 
afterward  called  Africanus,  the  avenger  of  his  father  and  uncle, 


BOOK  IL  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  R26 

entered  tlie  country  as  a  now  :. nd  fresh  province,  and  h;t\  !!.,<• 
speedily  taken  Carthage*8  and  other  cities,  and  not  being  con- 
tent with  having  expelled  the  Carthaginians,  made  the  province 
tributary  to  us,  reduced  under  our  dominion  all  places  on  either 
side  of  the  Iberus,  and  was  the  first  of  the  Roman  generals 
that  prosecuted  a  victorious  course  to  Gades  and  the  mouth  of 
the  Ocean.89 

But  it  is  a  greater  matter  to  preserve  a  province70  than  to 
acquire  one.  Generals  were  accordingly  dispatched  into  several 
parts  of  the  country,  sometimes  one  way,  sometimes  another, 
who,  with  much  difficulty,  and  many  bloody  engagements, 
taught  those  savage  nations,  which  had  till  then  been  free,  and 
were  consequently  impatient  of  control,  to  submit  to  the  Ro- 
man yoke.  Cato  the  Censor  humbled  the  Celtiberians,  the 
main  strength  of  Spain,  in  several  battles.  Gracchus,  the 
father  of  Tiberius  and  Caius  Gracchus,  inflicted  on  the  same 
people  the  demolition  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  cities.  Metellus, 
who  was  surnamed  Macedonicus,  deserved  also  to  be  called 
Celtibericus,  for  when  he  had  with  great  glory  reduced  Con- 
trebia  and  the  Nertobriges,71  he  with  greater  glory  spared  them. 
Lucullus  conquered  the  Turduli  and  Vaccsei,  from  whom  the 
younger  Scipio,  having  been  challenged  by  their  king  to  a 
single  combat,  carried  off  the  spolia  opima.  Decimus  Brutus, 
taking  a  somewhat  wider  range,  overcame  the  Celts  and  Lusi- 
tanians,  and  all  the  tribes  of  GaHaecia,  crossed  the  river  of 
Oblivion,73  an  object  of  dread  to  the  soldiers,  and  having  pur- 
sued a  victorious  route  along  the  shore  of  the  Ocean,  did  not 
turn  back  until  he  beheld,  not  without  some  dread  and  appre- 
hension of  being  guilty  of  impiety,  the  sun  descend  into  the 
sea,  and  his  fire  buried  in  the  waters. 

But  the  main  difficulty  of  the  war  was  with  the  Lusitanians 

88  Ch.  XVII.  Carthage]  That  is,  New  Carthage,  in  Spain. 

»°  Mouth  of  the  Ocean]  Oceani  ora.  The  Strait  ot  Gibraltar,  Fretum 
Gaditamtm. 

70  A  greater  matter  to  preserve  a  province,  etc.]  He  makes  the  same  ob- 
servation in  b.  iv.  c.  12. 

«  The  Nertobriges]  This  word  is  probably  corrupt.  It  ought  apparently 
to  be  the  name  of  a  town,  not  of  a  people ;  and  it  has  been  proposed  to 
substitute  Nertobriqam. 

72  The  river  of  Oblivion]  Otherwise  called  Limia,  or  Limius.  Strabo, 
lib.  iii. ;  Pomp.  Mel.,  iii.  1 ;  Cellar.,  ii.  1.  It  was  called  the  river  of  Obli- 
vion from  the  loss  of  some  troops  on  its  banks,  in  some  of  the  contentions 
of  the  Spaniards  among  themselves.  The  word  transiit,  or  some  such  verb, 
is,  as  Dukcr  observes,  wanting  in  the  text. 


830  FLORUS.  BOOK  rr. 

and  Numantines;  and  not  without  reason ;  for  they  alone,  of  nil 
the  nations  of  Spain,  had  the  good  fortune  to  have  leaders. 
There  would,  indeed,  have  been  difficulty  enough  with  all  the 
Celtiberians,  had  not  Salendicus,  the  author  of  their  insurrec- 
tion, been  cut  off  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  He  would  have 
been  a  great  man,  from  the  union  of  craft  and  daring  in  his 
character,  if  the  course  of  events  had  favored  him.  Brandish' 
ing  a  silver  spear,  which  he  pretended  to  have  been  sent  him 
from  heaven,  and  conducting  himself  like  a  prophet,  he  drew 
upon  him  the  attention  of  every  one.  But  having,  with  corres- 
ponding rashness,  penetrated  the  camp  of  the  consul  in  the 
night,  he  was  slain  near  his  tent  by  the  javelin  of  a  sentinel. 
The  Lusitanians  Viriathus  stirred  up,  a  man  of  the  most  con- 
summate craft,  who  from  a  hunter  becoming  a  robber,  was  from 
a  robber  suddenly  made  a  leader  and  commander,  and  who 
would  have  been,  if  fortune  had  seconded  his  attempts,  the  Ro- 
mulus of  Spain.  Not  content  with  defending  the  liberty  of  his 
countrymen,  he  for  fourteen  years  wasted  all  that  belonged  to 
the  Romans,  on  both  sides  of  the  Iberus  and  Tagus,  with  fire 
and  sword.  He  attacked  the  camps  of  praetors  and  governors, 
defeated  Claudius  Unimanus,  with  the  almost  utter  destruction 
of  his  army,  and  erected,  in  the  mountains  of  his  country,  tro- 
phies adorned  with  the  robes  and  fasces  which  he  had  taken 
from  our  generals.  At  last  the  consul  Fabius  Maximus  over- 
came him,  but  his  victory  was  disgraced  by  his  successor,  Pom- 
pilius,  who,  eager  to  bring  the  matter  to  an  end,  proceeded 
against  the  hero,  when  he  was  weakened  and  meditating  a  sur- 
render, by  the  aid  of  fraud  and  treachery  and  domestic  assas- 
sins, and  conferred  upon  his  adversary  the  glory  of  seeming  to 
have  been  invincible  by  any  other  means. 


CHAP.    XVIII.       THE    NUMANTINE    WAR. 

Numantia,  however  inferior  to  Carthage,  Capua,  and  Corinth, 
in  wealth,  was,  in  regard  to  valor  and  distinction,  equal  to  them 
all.  If  we  look  to  the  conduct  of  its  inhabitants,  it  was  the 
greatest  glory  of  Spain ;  for,  though  without  a  wall,  without 
towers,  situate  only  on  a  slight  ascent  by  the  river  Douro,  and 
manned  only  with  four  thousand  Celtiberians,  it  held  out  alone, 
for  the  space  of  fourteen  years,  against  an  army  of  forty  thou- 
sand men ;  nor  did  it  hold  out  merely,  but  also  several  times 


BOOK  ir.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  331 

repulsed  them,78  and  forced  them  to  dishonorable  treaties.  At 
last,  when  it  was  found  impregnable  by  its  present  assailants,  it 
AY  as  necessary,  they  thought,  to  apply  to  him  who  had 
destroyed  Carthage. 

Scarcely  ever,  if  we  may  confess  the  truth,  was  the  pretext 
for  a  war  more  unjust.  The  Numan lines  had  sheltered  certain 
Segidians,  some  of  their  own  allies  and  relatives,  who  had 
escaped  from  the  hands  of  the  Romans.  The  intercession 
which  they  made  for  these  refugees  had  no  effect ;  and  when 
they  offered  to  withdraw  themselves  from  all  concern  in  the 
•\va",  they  were  told  to  lay  down  their  arms  as  the  condition 
of  a  treaty  on  fair  terms.  This  was  understood  by  the  barba- 
rians to  signify  that  their  hands  were  to  be  cut  off.  In  conse- 
quence they  immediately  flew  to  arms,  and  under  the  conduct 
of  Megara,  a  very  determined  leader,  attacked  Pompeius ;  yet, 
when  they  might  have  cut  his  army  to  pieces,  they  chose  rather 
to  make  a  treaty  with  him.  They  had  next  for  an  assailant 
Hostilius  Mancinus,  whose  troops  they  so  dispirited,  by  contin- 
ual slaughters,  that  not  a  man  of  them  could  endure  the  looks 
or  voice  of  a  Numantine.  Yet,  when  they  might  have  put  all 
his  followers  to  the  sword,  they  preferred  making  a  treaty  also 
with  him,  and  were  content  with  despoiling  his  men  of  their 
arms.  But  the  people  of  Rome,  incensed  at  the  ignominy  and 
shame  of  this  Numantine  treaty,  no  less  than  at  the  Caudine 
treaty  of  former  days,  expiated  the  dishonor  of  their  miscar- 
riage, for  the  present,  by  the  surrender  of  Mancinus.74  But  af- 
terward, under  the  leadership  of  Scipio,  who  was  prepared  by 
the  burning  of  Carthage  for  the  destruction  of  cities,  they  grew 
outrageous  for  revenge. 

At  first,  however,  Scipio  had  a  harder  struggle  in  the  camp 
than  in  the  field,  with  our  own  troops  than  with  those  of  Nu- 
mantia.  For  the  soldiery,  under  his  orders,  were  of  necessity 
exercised  in  constant,  excessive,  and  even  servile  labor.75  Such 

73  Ch.  XVIII.  Several  times  repulsed  them]  Scepius  aliquando  perculit. 
This  is  the  reading  preferred  oy  Lipsius.  Duker  has  scevius,  which 
Graevius  interprets  Sceoiits  quam  Carthaao,  Capua,  et  Corinthus.  But  these 
names  are  at  too  great  a  distance  for  such  an  interpretation. 

7*  By  the  surrender  of  Mancinus]  Deditione  Ifancini.  Mancinus  was 
placed,  by  the  consul  Publius  Furius,  at  the  gate  of  Numantia,  unarmed, 
and  with  his  hands  tied  behind  him.  But  the  Numantines  refused  to  re- 
ceive him.  See  Veil.  Pat.,  ii.  90,  5.  The  subject  is  also  mentioned  by 
Appian,  and  by  Plutarch,  Life  of  Tib.  Gracchus. 

'*  Excessive — labor]  Injustis — operibue.    "InjvtfauJ*  says  Duker,  "for 


332  FLORUS.  BOOK  n. 

as  knew  not  how  to  bear  arms,  were  ordered  to  carry  an  extra<  >r- 
dinary  number  of  stakes  for  ramparts ;  and  such  as  were  unwill- 
ing to  be  stained  with  blood,  were  forced  to  defile  themselves 
with  dirt.  Besides,  all  the  women  and  servant-boys,  and  all 
baggage,  except  what  was  requisite  for  use,  were  dismissed. 

Justly  has  it  been  said,  that  an  army  is  of  the  same  worth  as 
.  its  leader.  When  the  troops  were  thus  reduced  to  discipline,  a 
battle  was  fought,  and  that  was  effected  which  none  had  ever 
expected  to  see,  namely,  that  every  one  saw  the  Numantines 
fleeing.  They  were  even  willing  to  surrender  themselves,  if 
nothing  but  what  was  endurable  by  men  had  been  required  of 
them.  But  as  Scipio  was  eager  for  a  full  and  absolute  victory, 
they  were  brought  to  such  despair,  that,  having  gorged  them- 
selves, as  if  for  a  funeral-banquet,  with  half-raw  flesh  and  celia™ 
(a  name  which  they  give  to  a  drink  of  the  country  made  from 
corn),  they  rushed  out  to  battle  with  a  determination  to  die. 
Their  object  was  understood  by  our  general,  and  to  men  defy- 
ing death  the  opportunity  of  fighting  was  not  granted.  But 
when  famine  pressed  hard  upon  them  (as  they  were  surrounded 
with  a  trench  and  breastwork,  and  four  camps),  they  entreated 
of  Scipio  to  be  allowed  the  privilege  of  engaging  with  him, 
desiring  that  he  would  kill  them  as  men,  and  when  this  was  not 
granted,  they  resolved  upon  making  a  sally.  A  battle  being  the 
consequence,  great  numbers  of  them  were  slain,  and,  as  the  fa- 
mine was  still  sore  upon  them,  the  survivors  lived  for  some  time 
on  their  bodies.77  At  last  they  determined  to  flee ;  but  this 
their  Avives  prevented,  by  cutting,  with  great  treachery,  yet  out 
of  affection,  the  girths  of  their  saddles.  Despairing,  therefore, 
of  escape,  and  being  driven  to  the  utmost  rage  and  fury,  they 
resolved  to  die  in  the  following  manner.  They  first  destroyed 
their  captains,  and  then  themselves  and  their  native  city,  with 
sword  and  poison  and  a  general  conflagration.  Peace  be  to  the 
ashes  of  the  most  brave  of  all  cities ;  a  city,  in  my  opinion, 

immodicus  and  nimius.  Some  have  proposed  to  read  insuetis,  but  Madame 
Dacier  defends  injastus  by  a  reference  to  Virgil,  Geo.,  iii.  346  : 

Hand  secus  ac  patriis  acer  Romanus  in  armis, 
Injiisto  subfasce  viam  dum  car-pit." 

™  Celia]  A  sort  of  cerevisia,  or  beer.  See  Plin.,  H.N.,  xxii.  25.  "  Prob- 
ably," says  Scheller,  "  a  Spanish  word." 

"  Lived  for  some  time  on  their  bodies]  Aliauantisper  inde  vixere.  Tho 
commentators  agree  in  giving  this  sense  to  ind«.  Sec  Val.  Max.,  vii.  6,  2. 


BOOK  ii.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  333 

most  happy  in  its  very  sufferings  ;  a  city  which  protected  its 
fillies  with  honor,  and  withstood,  with  its  own  force,  and  for  so 
long  a  period,  a  people  supported  by  the  strength  of  the  whole 
world.  Being  overpowered  at  length  by  the  greatest  of  gene- 
rals, it  left  no  cause  for  the  enemy  to  rejoice  over  it.  Its  plun- 
der, as  that  of  a  poor  people,  was  valueless ;  their  arms  they 
had  themselves  burned  ;  and  the  triumph  of  its  conquerors  was 
only  over  its  name. 


CHAP.    XIX.        SUMMARY    OF    THE    ROMAN    WARS    FOR    TWO 
HUNDRED    YEARS. 

Hitherto  the  Roman  people  had  been  noble,  honorable,  pious, 
upright,  and  illustrious.  Their  subsequent  actions  in  this  age, 
as  they  were  equally  grand,  so  were  they  more  turbulent  and 
dishonorable,  their  vices  increasing  with  the  very  greatness  of 
their  empire.  So  that  if  any  one  divides  this  third  age,  which 
was  occupied  in  conquest  beyond  the  sea,  and  which  we  have 
made  to  consist  of  two  hundred  years,  into  two  equal  parts,  he 
will  allow,  with  reason  and  justice,  that  the  first  hundred  years, 
in  which  they  subdued  Africa,  Macedonia,  Sicily  and  Spain,  were 
(as  the  poets  sing)  golden  years  ;  and  that  the  other  hundred, 
which  to  the  Jugurthine,  Cimbrian,  Mithridatic,  and  Parthian 
wars,  as  well  as  those  of  Gaul  and  Germany  (in  which  the  glory 
of  the  Romans  ascended  to  heaven),  united  the  murders  of  the 
Gracchi  and  Drusus,  the  Servile  War,  and  (that  nothing  might 
be  wanting  to  their  infamy),  the  war  with  the  gladiators,  were 
iron,  blood-stained,  and  whatever  more  severe  can  be  said  of 
them.  Turning  at  last  upon  themselves,  the  Romans,  as  if  in  a 
spirit  of  madness,  and  fury,  and  impiety,  tore  themselves  in 
pieces  by  the  dissensions  of  Marius  and  Sylla,  and  afterward  by 
those  of  Pompey  and  Caesar. 

These  occurrences,  though  they  are  all  involved  and  confused, 
yet,  that  they  may  appear  the  more  clearly,  and  that  what  is 
bad  in  them  may  not  obscure  what  is  good,  shall  be  related 
separately  and  in  order.  And  in  the  first  place,  as  we  have  be- 
gun, we  shall  give  an  account  of  those  just  and  honorable 
wars  which  they  waged  with  foreign  nations,  that  the  daily  in- 
creasing greatness  of  the  empire  may  be  made  more  manifest; 
and  we  shall  then  revert  to  those  direful  proceedings,  those 


334  FLOP.UH.  BOOK  a 

dishonorable  and  unnatural  contests,  of  the  Romans  among 
themselves. 

CHAP.  xx. 

After  Spain  was  subdued  in  the  West,  the  Roman  people  had 
peace  in  the  East ;  nor  had  they  peace  only,  but,  by  unwonted 
and  unexampled  good  fortune,  wealth  left  them  by  bequests 
from  kings,  and  indeed  whole  kingdoms  at  once,  fell  into  their 
possession.  Attalus,  king  of  Pergamus,  son  of  king  Eumenes, 
who  had  formerly  been  our  ally  and  fellow-soldier,  left  a  will78 
to  the  following  effect :  "  Let  the  Roman  people  be  heir  to  my 
property."  Of  the  king's  property,  the  kingdom  was  a  portion. 
The  Romans  accordingly  entering  on  the  inheritance,  became 
possessors  of  the  province,  not  by  war  and  arms,  but  what  is 
more  satisfactory,  by  testamentary  right. 

But  as  to  what  followed,  it  is  hard  to  say  whether  the  Romans 
lost  or  recovered  this  province  with  the  greater  ease.  Aristo- 
nicus,  a  high-spirited  youth  of  the  royal  family,  brought  over  to 
his  interest,  without  much  difficulty,  part  of  the  cities  which 
had  been  subject  to  the  kings,78  and  reduced  a  few,  which  offered 
resistance,  as  Myndus,  Samos,  and  Colophon,  by  force  of  arms. 
He  then  cut  to  pieces  the  army  of  the  praetor  Crassus,  and  took 
Crassus  himself  prisoner.  But  the  Roman  general,  remember- 
ing the  dignity  of  his  family  and  the  name  of  Rome,  struck  out 
the  eye  of  the  barbarian,  who  had  him  in  custody,  with  a  wand, 
and  this  provoked  him,  as  he  intended,  to  put  him  to  death. 
Aristonicus,  not  long  after,  was  defeated  and  captured  by  Per- 
perna,  and,  upon  giving  up  all  claim  to  the  kingdom,  kept  in 
confinement.  Aquilius  then  suppressed  the  relics  of  the  Asiatic 
war,  by  poisoning  certain  springs  (a  most  dishonorable  proceed- 
ing), in  order  to  force  some  cities  to  a  surrender.  This  act, 
though  it  hastened  his  victory,  rendered  it  infamous  ;  for,  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  the  gods  and  the  practices  of  our  ancestors, 
he  desecrated  the  Roman  arms,  which  had,  till  then,  been  pure 
and  inviolate,  by  the  use  of  detestable  drugs. 

78  Attalus — left  a  will]  See  note  on  the  Letter  of  Mithridates,  Fragments 
of  Sallust's  History,  p.  231. 

79  Subject  to  the  kings]  Eumenes  and  Attalus. 


BOOK  IIL  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  335 

BOOK  IIL 

CHAP.    I.       THE    JUGURTHINE    WAR. 

This  was  the  state  of  things  in  the  east.  But  in  the  south- 
ern quarter  there  was  no  such  tranquillity.  Who,  after  the 
destruction  of  Carthage,  would  have  expected  any  war  in  Afri- 
ca ?  Yet  Numidia  roused  herself  with  no  small  effort ;  and  in 
Jugurtha  there  was  something  to  be  dreaded  after  Hannibal. 
This  subtle  prince  assailed  the  Romans,  when  they  were  illus- 
trious and  invincible  in  arms,  by  means  of  his  wealth ;  and  it 
fortunately  happened,  beyond  the  expectation  of  all,  that  a  king 
eminent  in  artifice  was  insnared  by  artifice. 

Jugurtha,  the  grandson  of  Masinissa,  and  son  of  Micipsa  by 
adoption,  having  determined,  from  a  desire  of  being  sole  king, 
to  put  his  brothers  to  death,  but  having  less  fear  of  them  than 
of  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome,  in  whose  faith  and  protec- 
tion the  kingdom  was  placed,  effected  his  first  crime  by  treach- 
ery ;  and  having  got  the  head  of  Hiempsal,  and  then  turned 
his  efforts  against  Adherbal,  he  brought  the  senate  over  to  his 
side  (after  Adherbal  had  fled  to  Rome),  by  sending  them  money 
through  his  embassadors.  This  was  his  first  victory  over  us. 
Having  by  similar  means  assailed  certain  commissioners,  who 
were  sent  to  divide  the  kingdom  between  him  and  Adherbal, 
and  having  overcome  the  very  integrity  of  the  Roman  empire80 
in  Scatirus,  he  prosecuted  with  greater  confidence  the  wicked 
course  which  he  had  commenced.  But  dishonesty  can  not  long 
be  concealed ;  the  corrupt  acts  of  Scaurus's  bribed  commission 
came  to  light,  and  it  was  resolved  by  the  Romans  to  make  war 
on  the  fratricide/1  The  consul  Calpurnius  Bestia  was  the  first 
general  sent  to  Numidia  ;  but  Jugurtha,  having  found  that  gold 
was  more  efficient  against  the  Romans  than  iron,  purchased 
peace  of  him.  Being  charged  with  this  underhand  dealing, 
!  and  summoned,  on  the  assurance  of  safe  conduct,  to  appear 
before  the  senate,  the  prince,  with  equal  boldness,  both  came  to 
the  city  and  procured  the  death  of  Massiva,  his  competitor  for 
the  kingdom  of  Masinissa,  by  the  aid  of  a  hired  assassin.  This 

60  Ch.  I.  The  very  integrity  of  the  Roman  empire]  Ipsos  Romani  vmptrii 
mores.  "  Because  Scaurus  seemed  of  all  men  the  most  grave  and  absti- 
nent." Freinshemius.  Sue  the  note  on  Sail.,  Jug.,  c.  15. 

«  Fratricide]  Parricidam.    See  note  on  Sail.,  Cat.,  c.  14. 


336  PLORU6.  BOOK  m. 

was  another  reason  for  war  against  Jugurtha.  The  task  of  in- 
flicting the  vengeance  which  was  to  follow  was  committed  to 
Albinus ;  but  Jugurtha  (shameful  to  relate !)  so  corrupted  his 
army  also,  that,  through  the  voluntary  flight  of  our  men  in  the 
field,  he  gained  a  victory,  and  became  master  of  our  camp  ;  and 
an  ignominious  treaty,  as  the  price  of  safety  to  the  Romans, 
being  added  to  their  previous  dishonor,  he  suffered  the  army, 
•which  he  had  before  bought,  to  depart. 

At  this  time,  to  support,  not  so  much  the  Roman  empire  as 
its  honor,  arose  Metellus,  who,  with  great  subtlety,  assailed  the 
enemy  with  his  own  artifices ;  an  enemy  who  sought  to  delude 
him;  sometimes  with  entreaties,  sometimes  with  threats,  some- 
times with  flight  that  was  evidently  pretended,  and  sometimes 
with  such  as  seemed  to  be  real.82  But  the  Roman,  not  content 
with  devastating  the  fields  and  villages,  made  attempts  on  the 
principal  cities  of  Numidia,  and  for  a  long  time  sought  in  vain 
to  reduce  Zama ;  but  Thala,  a  place  stored  with  arms  and  the 
king's  treasures,  he  succeeded  in  capturing.  Afterward  he 
pursued  the  prince  himself,  deprived  of  his  cities,  and  forced  to 
flee  from  his  country  and  kingdom,  through  Mauretania  and 
Getulia.  Finally,  Marius,  having  greatly  augmented  the  army, 
(for  from  the  obscurity  of  his  own  birth,  he  enlisted  numbers  of 
the  lowest  class  of  people)  attacked  the  king  when  he  was  al- 
ready defeated  and  disabled,  but  did  not  conquer  him  moro 
easily  than  if  he  had  engaged  him  in  full  and  fresh  vigor.  The 
same  general,  also,  with  wonderful  good  fortune,  reduced  Capsa, 
a  city  built  by  Hercules,  lying  in  the  middle  of  Africa,  and  de- 
fended by  serpents  and  sandy  deserts,  and  forced  his  way,  by 
the  aid  of  a  certain  Ligurian,  into  Mulucha,  a  city  seated  on  a 
rocky  eminence,  the  approach  to  it  being  steep  and  apparently 
inaccessible.  Soon  after  he  gave  a  signal  overthrow,  near  the 
town  of  Cirta,  not  only  to  Jugurtha  himself,  but  to  Bocchus, 
the  king  of  Mauretania,  who,  from  ties  of  blood,  had  taken  the 
part  of  the  Numidian  prince.  But  the  Mauretanian,  distrust- 
ing the  condition  of  his  own  affairs,  and  apprehensive  of  being 
involved  in  another's  ruin,  offered  to  purchase,  by  the  surrender 
of  Jugurtha,  a  treaty  and  alliance  with  Rome.  That  most 

w  Flight  that  was  evidently  protended — such  as  seemed  to  be  real]  Jam 
simulatd,  jam  quasi  verafuga.  There  is  something  corrupt  in  this  passage, ; 
for,  as  Duker  and  Perizonius  observe,  there  is  no  conceivable  difference 
between  quasi  verafuga  and  simulatafuya.  The  manuscripts  vary  a  littk. 
but  afford  no  help. 


BOOK  IIL  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  337 

treacherous  of  princes,  accordingly,  was  insnared  by  the  treach- 
ery of  his  own  father-in-law,  and  delivered  into  the  hands  of 
Sylla,  and  the  people  of  Rome  at  last  beheld  Jugurtha  loaded 
with  chains  and  led  in  triumph,  while  the  king  himself,  con- 
quered and  captive,  looked  again  on  the  city  which  he  had 
vainly  prophesied  "  was  to  be  sold,  and  doomed  to  perish  if  it 
could  but  find  a  buyer."  But  if  it  had  been  to  be  sold,83  it  had 
a  purchaser  in  him,  and  since  he  did  not  escape,  it  will  appear 
certain  that  it  is  not  destined  to  perish. 

CHAP.    II.       THE    WAR    WITH    THE    ALLOBROGES. 

Thus  did  the  Romans  succeed  in  the  south.  In  the  north 
there  were  much  more  sanguinary  proceedings,  and  in  a  greater 
number  of  places  at  once.  Nothing  is  more  inclement  than 
those  regions.  The  air  is  severe,  and  the  tempers  of  the  inhab- 
itants similar  to  it.  From  all  this  tract,  on  the  right  and  the 
left,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  northern  quarter,  burst  forth  savage 
enemies.  The  Salyi  were  the  first  people  beyond  the  Alps 
that  felt  our  arms,  in  consequence  of  Marseilles,  a  most  faithful 
and  friendly  city,  having  complained  of  their  inroads.  The 
Allobroges  and  Arverni  were  the  next,  as  similar  complaints 
from  the  ^Edui  called  for  our  assistance  and  protection  against 
them.  The  river  Varus  is  a  witness  of  our  victories,  as  well  as 
the  Isara  and  Vindelicus,  and  the  Rhone,  the  swiftest  of  all 
rivers.  The  greatest  terror  to  the  barbarians  were  the  ele- 
phants, which  matched  the  fierceness  of  those  people.  In  the 
triumph  there  was  nothing  so  conspicuous  as  king  Bituitus,  in 
his  variegated  arms  and  silver  chariot,  just  as  he  had  fought. 
How  great  the  joy  was  for  both  victories,  may  be  judged  from 
the  fact  that  both  Domitius  ^Enobarbus,  and  Fabius  Maximus, 
erected  towers  of  stone  upon  the  places  where  they  had  fought, 
and  fixed  upon  them  trophies  adorned  with  the  arms  of  the 
enemy :  a  practice  not  usual  with  us,  for  the  Roman  people 
never  upbraided  their  conquered  enemies  with  their  victories 
over  them. 

CHAP.    III.       THE    WARS    WITH     THE    CIMBRI,    TEUTONE8,    AND 
TIGURINI. 

The  Cimbri,  Teutones,  and  Tigurini,  fleeing  from  the  extreme 

83  But  if  it  had  been  to  be  sold]  Jam  ut  venaKs  fuisset.    Madame  Dacier 
nam  ut.    Some  editions  have  tamen  ut. 
15 


338  FLORUS.  BOOK  m. 

parts  of  Gaul,84  because  the  Ocean  had  inundated  their  coun- 
try, proceeded  to  seek  new  settlements  throughout  the  world ; 
and  being  shut  out  from  Gau?  and  Spain,  and  wheeling  about84 
toward  Italy,  they  sent  deputies  to  the  camp  of  Silanus,  and 
from  thence  to  the  senate,  requesting  that  "  the  people  of  Mars88 
would  allot  them  some  land  as  a  stipend,  and  use  their  hands 
and  arms  for  whatever  purpose  they  pleased."  But  what  lands 
could  the  people  of  Rome  give  th^m,  when  they  were  ready  to 
fight  among  themselves  about  the  agrarian  laws  ?  Finding 
application,  therfore,  unsuccessful,  they  resolved  to  obtain  by 
force  what  they  could  not  get  by  entreaty.  Silanus  could  not- 
withstand  the  first  attack  of  the  barbarians,  nor  Manlius  the 
second,  nor  CaBpio  the  third.  All  the  three  commanders  were 
routed,  and  driven  from  their  camps.  Rome  would  have  been 
destroyed,  had  not  Marius  happened  to  live  in  that  age.  Even 
he  did  not  dare  to  engage  them  at  once,  but  kept  his  soldiers 
in  their  camp,  until  the  impetuous  rage  and  fury,  which  the  bar- 
barians have  instead  of  valor,  should  subside.  The  savages,  in 
consequence,  set  off  for  Rome,  insulting  cur  men,  and  (such 
was  their  confidence  of  taking  the  city)  asking  them  whether 
they  had  any  messages  to  send  to  their  wives.  With,  not  less 
expedition  than  they  had  threatened,  they  marched  in  three 
bodies  over  the  Alps,  the  barriers  of  Italy.  But  Marius,  exert- 
ing extraordinary  speed,  and  taking  a  shorter  route,  quickly 
outstripped  the  enemy.  Asssailing  first  the  Teutones,  at  the 
very  foot  of  the  Alps,  in  a  place  which  they  call  Aquae  Sextice, 
in  how  signal  a  battle  (O  heavenly  powers !)  did  he  over- 
throw them  !  The  enemy  possessed  themselves  of  a  valley,  and 
a  river  running  through  the  midst  of  it,  while  our  men  wanted 
water ;  but  whether  Marius  allowed  this  to  happen  designedly, 

8«  Ch.  III.  From  tbe  extreme  parts  of  Gaul]  Ab  extremis  Gallitx.  As 
Gallia  occurs  again,  a  few  lines  below,  it  is  apparent  that  there  is  something 
•wrong  in  the  passage.  Cluverius,  Germ.  Antiq.,  i.  10,  ii.  4,  iii.  22,  suggests 
that  we  should  read  Germanice.  Grsevius  and  Duker  say  that  the  most 
ancient  inhabitants  of  Gaul  were  Germans,  and  that  therefore  Florus  may 
reasonably  have  used  Gattia  as  synonymous  with  Garmania,  I  have  littlo 
doubt,  however,  that  Cluverius  is  right;  for  Florus  was  too  careful  of  his 
language  to  make  so  inelegant  a  repetition  as  exclusi  Gallia  after  ab  extremis 
GalUwprof-ugi. 

b6  Wheeling  about]  Qnum — regyrarent.  The  latter  word  is  a  conjecture 
of  Salmasius,  approved  by  Grasvius.  Duker  retains  the  common  reading 
remiffrarent,  which  is  manifestly  corrupt. 

88  The  people  of  Mars]  Marti/us  populus.  They  intimated  that  one  war- 
like people  ought  to  oblige  another  warlike  people. 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  339 

or  turned  an  error  to  his  advantage,  is  doubtful ;  certain  it  is, 
however,  that  the  courage  of  the  Romans,  stimulated  by  ne- 
cessity, was  the  cause  of  their  victory.  For  when  the  troops 
clamored  for  water,  "  You  are  men,"  he  replied  ;  "  yonder  you 
have  it."  Such,  in  consequence,  was  the  spirit  with  which  they 
fought,  and  such  the  slaughter  of  the  enemy,  that  the  Romans 
drank  from  the  ensanguined  stream  not  more  water  than  blood 
of  the  barbarians.  Their  king  himself,  Teutobochus,  who  was 
accustomed  to  vault  over  four  or  six  horses  at  once,  could  scarcely 
mount  one  when  he  fled,  and  being  taken  prisoner  in  the  neigh- 
boring forest,  was  a  remarkable  object  in  the  triumph,  for,  being 
a  man  of  extraordinary  stature,  he  towered  above  the  trophies 
themselves. 

The  Teutones  being  utterly  cut  off,  Marius  directed  his  efforts 
against  the  Cimbri.  This  people  had  made  a  descent,  even  (who 
would  believe  it  ?)  in  the  time  of  winter,  which  raises  the  Alps87 
still  higher  than  ordinary,  rolling  forward,  like  a  falling  mass 
of  rock,  from  the  Tridentine  heights  into  Italy  as  far  as  the 
Adige.  Attempting  the  passage  of  the  river,  not  by  the  aid  of 
a  bridge  or  of  boats,  but,  with  the  stupidity  of  savages,  trying 
to  stem  it  with  their  bodies,  and  making  vain  efforts  to  stop  its 
current  with  their  hands  and  shields,  they  at  last  blocked  it  up 
with  a  mass  of  trees  thrown  into  it,  and  so  got  across.  And 
had  they  immediately  marched  for  Rome  in  a  body,  and  eager 
for  battle,  the  danger  to  the  city  would  have  been  great ;  but 
delaying  in  the  parts  about  Venice,  where  the  climate  of  Italy 
is  most  luxurious,  their  vigor  was  diminished  by  the  very  mild- 
ness of  the  country  and  atmosphere.  When  they  had  been 
further  relaxed  by  the  use  of  bread,  cooked  flesh,  and  pleasant 
wines,  Marius  opportunely  came  up  with  them.  They  requested 
our  general  to  fix  upon  a  day  for  battle,  and  he  appointed  the 
next.  They  engaged  in  an  open  plain,  which  they  call  the 
Raudian  field.  There  fell  on  the  side  of  the  enemy  to  the  num- 
ber of  sixty  thousand  ;  on  ours  fewer  than  three  hundred.  The 
barbarians  were  slaughtered  during  an  entire  day.  Marius  had 
,".'sr>  assisted  valor  by  artifice,  in  imitation  of  Hannibal  and  his 
:-*nitagem  at  Cannae.  In  the  first  place,  he  had  fixed  on  a  foggy 
tl;iy,8s  so  that  he  could  charge  the  enemy  before  they  were  aware 

"  Raises  the  Alps]  Quiz  cdtiw  Alpes  lemt.  "  This  is  very  true,"  says 
Grsevins,  "  for  snow  is  spread  over  snow,  and  is  turned,  they  say,  into 
etone."  See  c.  10,  hyeme  crecerant  Alpes. 

88  lie  had  fixed  on  a  foggy  day]  Nebulosum  diem.    To  attribute  these 


340  FLORUS.  BOOK  nr. 

of  his  approach  ;  and,  as  it  was  windy  also,  he  maneuvered  so 
that  the  dust  was  driven  into  the  eyes  and  faces  of  the  enemy ; 
while,  in  addition,  he  had  arranged  his  troops  to  face  the  east, 
so  that,  as  was  afterward  learned  from  the  prisoners,  the 
heaven  seemed  to  be  on  fire  from  the  glittering  of  the  Roman 
helmets  and  the  reflection  of  the  sun's  rays  from  them.  But  the 
struggle  with  the  enemies'  wives  was  not  less  severe  than  that 
with  themselves ;  for  the  women,  being  mounted  on  the  wag- 
ons and  other  carriages,  which  had  been  ranged  around  as  a 
defense,  fought  from  them,  as  from  towers,  with  spears  and  pikes. 
The  death  of  these  savages  was  as  glorious  as  their  contest  for 
victory ;  for  when,  upon  sending  an  embassy  to  Marius,  they 
failed  to  obtain  their  liberty,  and  sacerdotal  protection,90  which 
it  was  not  lawful  to  grant,  they  either  fell,  after  strangling  or 
braining  the  whole  of  their  children,  by  mutual  wounds,  or 
hanged  themselves,  with  ropes  made  of  their  own  hair,  upon 
trees  and  the  yokes  of  their  wagons.  Their  king  Bojorix 
fell  in  the  battle,  fighting  furiously,  and  not  without  avenging 
himself. 

The  third  body,  the  Tigurini,  which,  as  if  for  a  reserve,  had 
taken  post  on  the  Noric  heights  of  the  Alps,  dispersing  in 
different  ways,  and  betaking  themselves  to  ignoble  flight  or 
depredations  at  last  quite  disappeared.  This  joyful  and  happy 
news,  of  the  deliverance  of  Italy  and  the  securing  of  the  empire, 
the  people  of  Rome  received,  not,  as  is  usual,  by  the  mouths  of 
men,  but,  if  we  may  believe  it,  by  the  intervention  of  the  gods 
themselves.  For  the  very  same  day  on  which,  the  contest  was 
decided,  two  young  men,  crowned  with  laurel,  were  seen,  in  front 
of  the  temple  of  Castor  and  Pollux,  to  deliver  a  letter  to  the 
praBtor ;  and  a  general  rumor  prevailed  in  the  theater  of  a  vic- 
tory over  the  Cimbii,"0  attended  with  the  expression,  "  May  it  be 

stratagems  to  Marius,  in  imitation  of  Hannibal,  is  absurd.  Mauri  us  was 
asked  to  fix  a  day  for  battle,  and  chose  the  next,  without  knowledge  whether 
it  would  be  foggy  or  clear.  The  fog,  too,  as  Florus  says,  was  so  dense  that 
the  Gauls  could  not  see  the  Romans  approaching  ;  yet  he  states  that  there 
was  sunshine  reflected  from  the  Koman  helmets,  and  making  the  heaven 
seem  in  a  blaze. 

b»  Sacerdotal  protection]  Sacerdotium.  "  They  did  not  desire,  as  Madame 
Dacier  supposes,  to  institute  any  sacerdotal  body,  either  peculiar  to  them- 
selves, or  in  common  with  any  other  priests,  but  merely  requested  to  be 
committed  to  the  custody  of  the  Vestal  virgins.  Or&runt  'ut—virginUn/t 
Vestalibus  dono  mitterentur,  ajfirmantes  ceqve  se,  atque  ttlas,  mrilis  coiicubilu* 
txpe.rtesfiituras.  Vol.  Max.,  vi.  1,  fin."  Duke?: 

w  Of  a  victory  over  tho  Cimbri,  etc.]  Frequensque  in  spectaculo  rumor 


HOOK  m.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  341 

happy  for  us."  What  could  be  more  wonderful,  what  more  ex- 
traordinary, than  this  ?  For  as  if  Rome,  raised  on  her  own 
hills,  had  taken  a  view  of  the  battle,  the  people  were  clapping 
their  hands  in  the  city,  as  is  the  case  at  a  show  of  gladiators, 
at  the  very  moment  when  the  Cimbri  were  falling  in  the 
field. 

CHAP.  IV.       THE  THRACIAN  WAR. 

After  the  Macedonians  were  subdued,  the  Thracians,  please 
the  gods,91  rebelled ;  a  people  who  had  themselves  been  tribu- 
tary to  the  Macedonians,  and  who,  not  satisfied  with  making 
inroads  into  the  neighboring  provinces  of  Thessaly  and  Dalmatia, 
advanced  as  far  as  the  Adriatic.  Being  content  with  this  as  a 
boundary,  nature  apparently  stopping  their  progress,  they  hurled 
their  weapons  into  the  waves.  No  cruelty,  however,  during  the 
whole  course  of  their  march,  had  been  left  unexercised  by  their 
fury  upon  such  as  they  took  prisoners ;  they  offered  human  blood 
to  the  gods ;  they  drank  from  men's  skulls ;  they  made  death 
from  fire  and  sword,92  more  ignominious  by  every  kind  of  in- 
sult ;  and  they  even  forced  by  tortures93  infants  from  their 
mothers'  wombs.  . 

Of  all  the  Thracians  the  most  savage  were  the  Scordisci ; 

Victoria  Cimbricae  Feliciter,  dixit.  Thus  stands  the  passage  in  Duker's 
text,  and,  I  believe,  in  all  others,  as  if  Victoria  were  a  dative  depending 
on  feliciter,  and  the  sense  were,  "  Good  fortune  for  the  victory  over  the 
Cimbri."  In  this  sense  Grater  and  Freinshemius  expressly  say  that  the 
words  are  to  be  taken,  and  adduce  a  passage  or  two  from  Suetonius  in 
\A\icli  feliciter  is  joined  with  a  dative.  But  these  datives  in  Suetonius  are, 
as  Duker  observes  in  his  note,  datives  of  the  person ;  and  both  he  and 
Schefler  doubt  whether  a  dative  of  the  thing,  such  as  Victoria-,  can  properly 
be  used  -<K\\.\\  feliciter.  Duker  therefore  proposes  to  take  victorias,  Uimbricce 
as  a  genitive  with  rumor,  and  to  let  feliciter  stand  by  itself,  as  in  Phsed.,  v. 
1,  4 :  Feliciter,  subclamant.  In  this  sense  I  have  given  the  passage  in  the 
translation. 

91  Ch.  IV.  Please  the  gods]  Si  diis  placet.  A  contemptuous  expression, 
similar  to  our  phrase  God  wot,  as  "Peter,  God  wot,  thought  to  do  it." 

99  Death,  from  fire  and  sword]  Mortem  tarn  igni  quamfumo  is  the  com- 
mon reading.  I  have  adopted  Wasse's  conjecture,  ferro.  Duker,  indeed, 
endeavors  to  support  fumo  by  references  to  Cicero,  Verr.,  i.  17,  where  a 
man  is  described  as  tortured  by  fumigation,  and  to  Vulcat.  Gall.,  iv.,  with 
the  notes  of  Casaubon  and  Salmasius.  But  there  would  be  no  need  to  say 
that  the  Thracians  added  insult  to  death  by  smoke,  a  death  sufficiently  in- 
sulting in  itself. 

•'  Forced  by  tortures,  etc.]  Extornuere  tormentif.  "  Tonwnta  accipio  fnnes 
circa  ventrem  tensos  et  ligatos.  Tormento  tensior,  Priap.  Carm.,  v.  Vide 
ibi  Scalig.  Colv.  et  Scip.  Gentil.  ad  Apul.  Apol.  non  longe  a  princ.  Quan- 
quam  etiuin  aliis  inodis  compreaso  ventre  partus  extorqueri  potest." 
Duktr, 


342  FLORUS.  BOOK  in. 

and  to  their  strength  was  added  cunning.  Their  situation 
among  woods  and  mountains  agreed  with  their  temper.  An 
army,  accordingly,  which  Cato  commanded,  was  not  only  routed 
or  put  to  flight  by  them,  but,  what  resembled  a  prodigy,  entirey 
cut  off.  Didius,  however,  drove  them  back,  as  they  were  strag- 
gling and  dispersed  in  unrestrained  devastation  of  the  country, 
into  their  own  Thrace.  Drusus  repelled  them  further,  ami 
hindered  them  from  crossing  the  Danube.  Minucius  mado 
havoc  of  them  all  along  the  banks  of  the  Hebrtis,  though  ho 
lost  many  of  his  men  when  the  river,  which  deceived  them  willi 
its  ice,  was  attempted  by  his  cavalry.  Piso  passed,  over  the 
Rhodope  and  Caucasus.  Curio  went  as  far  as  Dacia,  but  was 
afraid  to  penetrate  the  darkness  of  its  forests.  Appius  advanced 
to  the  Sarmatians,  Lucullus  to  the  Tanais,  the  boundary  of  those 
nations,  and  to  the  lake  Maeotis.  Nor  were  these  most  savage 
of  enemies  subdued  by  any  other  treatment  than  such  as  they 
exercised  on  others  ;  for  cruelties  by  fire  and  sword  were  inflict- 
ed on  all  that  were  taken  prisoners.  But  nothing  seemed  more 
horrid  to  these  barbarians  than  that  they  should  be  left  with 
their  hands  cut  off,  and  be  obliged  to  live  and  survive  their 
sufferings.  . 

CHAP.  V.        THE  MITHRIDATIC  WAR. 

The  Pontic  nations  lie  to  the  north,  along  the  sea  on  the  left,94 
and  have  their  name  from  the  Pontus.  Of  these  people  and 
countries  the  most  ancient  king  was  vEetes.  After  him  reigned 
Artabazes,  who  was  sprung  from  one  of  the  seven  Persians. 
Then  came  Mithridntes,  the  mightiest  of  all  kings ;  for  though 
four  years  were  sufficient  to  defeat  Pyrrhus,  and  seventeen  to 
conquer  Hannibal,  this  monarch  held  out  for  forty  years,  till, 
being  subdued  in  three  great  wars,  he  was  by  the  good  fortune 
of  Sylla,  the  bravery  of  Lucullus,  and  the  greatness  of  Pompey, 
entirely  brought  to  nothing. 

As  a  pretext  for  war,  he  alleged  to  Cassius,  our  embassador, 
that  "  his  borders  were  wasted  by  Nioomedes,  king  of  Bittynia." 
Moved,  however,  by  a  spirit  of  ambition,  he  burned  with  a 
desire  to  grasp  all  Asia,  and,  if  he  could,  all  Europe.  Our  vices 
gave  him  hope  and  confidence ;  for  while  we  were  distracted 
by  civil  wars,  the  opportunity  of  attacking  us  tempted  him  ; 

'  9*  Ch.  V.  Along  the  sea  on  the  left]  In  mare  si/nistrum.  The  Pontus 
Euxinus,  which  lies  on  the  left  of  those  sailing  from  Italy  into  Asia 
Minor. 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  343 

and  Marius,  Sylla,  and  Sertorius  showed  Lim  from  a  distance 
that  the  side  of  the  empire  was  exposed.  In  the  midst,  there- 
fore, of  these  sufferings  and  disturbances  of  the  commonwealth, 
the  tempest  of  the  Pontic  war,  as  if  seizing  its  opportunity, 
suddenly  descended,  as  from  the  extreme  heights  of  the  north, 
upon  a  people  wearied  and  pre-occupied.  Its  first  irruption  at 
once  snatched  Bithynia  from  us.  Asia  was  next  seized  with 
similar  terror,  and  our  cities  and  people  without  delay  revolted 
to  the  king.  He  himself  was  active  and  urgent,  and  exercised 
cruelty  as  if  he  thought  it  a  virtue.  For  what  could  be  more 
atrocious  than  one  of  his  edicts,  ordering  all  citizens  of  Rome 
that  were  in  Asia  to  be  put  to  death  1  Then,  indeed,  homes, 
temples,  and  altars,  and  all  obligations,  human  and  divine,  were 
violated. 

This  terror  in  Asia  opened  to  the  king  also  a  passage  into 
Europe.  Accordingly,  Archelaus  and  Neoptolemus,  two  of  his 
generals,  being  dispatched  thither,  the  Cyclades,  Delos,  Euboea, 
(and  all  the  islands  except  Rhodes,  which  adhered  to  us  more 
firmly  than  ever),  with  Athens,  the  very  glory  of  Greece,  were 
seized  by  his  troops.  The  dread  of  the  king  even  affected  Italy 
and  the  city  of  Rome  itself.  Lucius  Sylla,  therefore,  a  man  ex- 
cellent in  war,  hastened  to  oppose  him,  and  repelled,  as  with  a 
push  of  the  hand,  the  enemy  who  was  advancing  with  equal 
impetuosity.  Athens,  a  city  which  was  the  mother  of  corn,  he 
first  compelled,  by  siege  and  famine,  to  eat  (who  would  believe 
it  ?)  the  flesh  of  human  beings ;  and  then,  having  undermined 
the  harbor  of  the  Piraeus,  with  its  six  walls  and  more,85  and 
having  reduced  the  most  ungrateful  of  men,ge  as  he  himself 
called  them,  he  yet  spared  them  for  the  honor  of  their  deceased 
ancestors,  and  for  the  sake  of  their  religion  and  fame.  Having 
next  driven  the  king's  garrisons  from  Euboea  and  Boetia,  he  dis- 

si  With  its  six  walls  and  more]  Sex  quoque  et  amplius  muris.  "  What  six 
walls  were  those,"  says  Graevius,  "  that  were  overthrown  hy  Sylla  ?  From 
the  records  of  antiquity  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Piraeus  had  any  other 
than  the  two  long  walls."  He  therefore  conjectures  that  these  six  walls 
must  have  been  merely  walls  erected  for  the  occasion,  one  behind  the  other, 
as  successive  defenses  against  the  besiegers :  a  conjecture  which  he  sup- 
ports by  a  reference  to  Appian's  account  of  the  siege.  Duker  agrees  with 
Graevius.  Bede,  indeed,  on  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  Orosius,  vi.  2, 
speak  of  the  Piraeus  as  being  fortified  with  a  sevenfold  wall  (septemplici 
muro\  but  they  seem  merely  to  have  been  misled  by  this  passage  of 
Floras. 

•«  Most  ungrateful  of  men]  Ingratissimos  homwum.  As  having  banished 
or  ill-treated  most  of  their  benefactors  and  great  men,  Theseus,  Solon, 
Miltiadcs,  Cimon,  Demosthenes,  etc. 


344  FLORUS.  BOOK  in. 

persed  the  whole  of  his  forces  in  one  battle  at  Chaeronea,  and  in 
a  second  at  Orchomenus ;  and  shortly  after,  crossing  over  into 
Asia,  he  overthrew  the  monarch  himself,  when  the  war  would 
have  been  brought  to  a  conclusion,  had  he  not  been  desirous 
to  triumph  over  Mithridates  rather  speedily  than  completely.97 

The  following,  however,  was  the  condition  m  which  Sylla 
placed  Asia.  A  treaty  was  made  with  the  people  of  Pontus. 
He  recovered  Bithynia  for98  king  Nicomedes,  and  Oappadocia  for 
Ariobarzanes.  Asia  thus  became  ours  again,  as  it  had  begun  to 
be.  But  Mithridates  was  only  repulsed.  This  state  of  things, 
accordingly,  did  not  humble  the  people  of  Pontus,  but  incensed 
them.  For  the  king,  being  caught,  as  it  were,  with  the  hope  of 
possessing  Asia  and  Europe,1  now  sought  to  recover  both  by 
right  of  war,  not  as  belonging  to  others,  but  because  he  had  be- 
fore lost  them. 

As  fires,  therefore,  which  have  not  been  completely  extin- 
guished, burst  forth  into  greater  flames,  so  Mithridates,  with  an 
increased  number  of  forces,  and  indeed  with  the  whole  strength 
of  his  kingdom,  descended  again  upon  Asia,  by  sea,  by  land, 
and  along  the  rivers.  Cyzicus,  a  noble  city,  adorns  the  shore  of 
Asia  with  its  citadel,  walls,  harbor,  and  towers.  This  city,  as 
if  it  had  been  another  Rome,  he  assailed  with  his  whole  warlike 
force ;  but  a  messenger,  who  (surprising  to  relate),  seated  on  a 
stuffed  skin,  and  steering  his  course  with  his  feet,  had  made  his 
way  through  the  middle  of  the  enemy's  ships  (appearing  to 
those  who  saw  him  from  a  distance,  to  be  some  kind  of  sea- 
monster),  gave  the  citizens  courage  to  make  resistance,  by 
assuring  them  that  Lucullus  was  approaching.  Soon  after,  dis- 

w  Rather  speedily  than  completely]  dtp  quam  wre.  "  Floras  has  here 
fallen  into  an  error,  for  Sylla  did  not  triumph  over  Mithridates  till  some 
years  afterward,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  civil  war.  Nor  did  he  make  peace 
with  Mithridatea  from  desire  of  a  triumph,  but  'lat  he  might  be  at  liberty 
to  turn  his  arms  against  the  faction  of  Marius,  which  was  then  domineering 
in  Italy."  Duker. 

»8  He  recovered  Bithynia  for,  etc.]  In  all  the  editions  the  passage  stands 
I  thus :  Recepit  Bithyniam  a,  rege  Nicomede,  ab  Ar'wbarzane  Cappadociam. 
This,  as  all  the  commentators  observe^  is  evidently  corrupt.  I  have  followed 
the  emendation  proposed  by  Salmasius ;  Recepit  Bithyniam  regi  Nicomedi, 
Ariobarzani  Cappadociam.  Lipsius  conjectured,  Recipit  Bithyniam  a,  Rege 
Nicomedes,  Ariobarzanes  Cappadociam. 

1  Asia  and  Europe]  Graevius  and  Madame  Dacier  wished  to  expunge  Eu- 
ropa  from  the  text,  but  Duker  desires  to  preserve  it,  as  Mithridates,  in  the 
preceding  part  of  the  war,  had  had  a  view  to  a  portion  of  Europe,  as  well 
as  to  all  Asia.  But  as  alienam  and  raptam  follow  in  the  singular,  the  ex- 
punction  seems  justifiable. 


BOOK  in.  .   EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  345 

tress  reverting  upon  the  king,  and  famine,  from  the  long  con- 
tinuance of  the  siege,  and  pestilence,  as  a  sequel  to  the  famine, 
pressing  grievously  upon  him,  Lucullus  surprised  him  as  he  was 
endeavoring  to  retreat,  and  slew  so  great  a  portion  of  his  army, 
that  the  rivers  Granicus  and  ^Esapus  were  reddened  with  blood. 
The  crafty  king,  well  acquainted  with  Roman  avarice,  ordered 
the  baggage  and  money  to  be  scattered  about  by  his  troops  as 
they  fled,  as  a  means  of  retarding  the  course  of  the  pursuers. 

Nor  was  his  retreat  by  sea  more  fortunate  than  that  by 
land ;  for  a  tempest,  in  the  Pontus  Euxinus,  falling  on  a  fleet  of 
above  a  hundred  ships,  laden  with  warlike  stores,  shattered  it 
with  so  miserable  a  havoc,  that  its  fate  presented  the  appearance 
of  the  sequel  to  a  sea-fight,  as  if  Lucullus,  by  some  compact 
with  the  waves  and  storms,  had  delivered  the  king  to  the  winds 
to  conquer. 

The  whole  strength  of  his  mighty  kingdom  was  now  greatly 
impaired ;  but  his  spirit  rose  with  his  misfortunes.  Turning, 
therefore,  to  the  neighboring  nations,  he  involved  in  his  destruc- 
tion almost  the  whole  of  the  east  and  north.  The  Iberians, 
Caspians,  Albanians,  and  the  people  of  both  Greater  and  Lesser 
Armenia,  were  solicited  to  join  him ;  and  Fortune,  by  every 
moans  in  her  power,  sought  glory,  and  name,  and  titles,  for  her 
favorite  Pompey,  who,  seeing  Asia  excited  with  new  commo- 
tions, and  one  king  rising  after  another,  thought  that  he  ought 
not  to  delay  till  the  strength  of  the  nations  should  be  united, 
but>  having  speedily  made  a  bridge  of  boats,  was  the  first  of  all 
before  him3  to  pass  the  Euphrates,  and  overtaking  the  king  in 
the  middle  of  Armenia,  suppressed  him  (such  was  his  good 
fortune  !)  in  one  battle.  The  engagement  took  place  by  night, 
and  the  moon  was  Pompey's  ally  ;  for  having,  as  if  fighting  on 
his  side,  stationed  herself  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  and  in  front 
of  the  Romans,  the  men  of  Pontus,  by  mistake,  discharged 
their  weapons  at  their  own  long  shadows,  taking  them1  for 

*  First  of  all  before  him]  Omnium  ante  se  primus.  A  mode  of  ex- 
pression common  among  the  Greeks,  as  in  Xen.  Sympos.,  c.  viii.  40 : 
iepOTrpsTreara-of  6oKeif  hvai  TUV  Trpo-yeyevrjij.fvcjv,  "  You  seem  the  ereatest 
ornament  to  the  priesthood  of  all  that  were  before  you."  So  Milton,  Par. 
L.,  iv.  323 : 

Adam,  the  goodliest  man  of  men  since  born 
His  sons,  the  fairest  of  her  daughters  Eve. 

Other  examples  might  be  found  in  abundance. 

1  Long  shadows,  taking  them,  etc.  J  Umbras  suaa  quasi  hostium  corpora,  etc. 
15* 


3-10  PLORUS.  BOOK  in. 

bodies  of  the  enemy.  In  that  night,  indeed,  Mithridates  was 
utterly  overcome ;  for  he  was  able  to  do  nothing  afterward  ; 
though  he  made  all  manner  of  efforts,  like  serpents,  which, 
when  their  head  is  crushed,  threaten  with  their  tails  to  the 
last.  Having  fled  from  the  enemy  to  the  Colchians,  ho  sought 
to  alarm,  by  a  sudden  descent,  the  coasts  of  Sicily  and  our  own 
Campania,  to  form  a  communication  between  the  Bosporus  and 
Colchis,4  then  to  hasten  through  Thrace,  MaceJoaia,  an  1 
Greece,  and  so  to  make  a  sudden  inroad  into  Italy.  But  this 
he  only  conceived  ;  for,  being  prevented  from  the  execution  of 
it  by  a  revolt  of  his  subjects,  and  by  the  treachery  of  his  son 
Pharnaces,  he  at  last  ended  by  the  sword  the  life  which  he  had 
in  vain  attempted  by  poison. 

Pompey,  meantime,  in  pursuit  of  the  remains  of  the  rebels 
in  Asia,  was  hurrying  through  divers  nations  and  countries. 
Following  the  Armenians  eastward,  and  capturing  Artaxata, 
the  metropolis  of  the  kingdom,  he  allowed  Tigranes,  on  offering 
submission,  to  retain  his  throne.  Then,  steering  his  course  by 
the  stars,  as  in  a  voyage  over  the  sea,  toward  the  Scythian 
north,  he  overthrew  the  Colchians,  gave  quarter  to  Iberia, 
spared  the  Albanians,  and,  pitching  his  camp  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Caucasus,  commanded  Orodes,  king  of  the  Colchians, 
to  remove  down  into  the  plains,  and  required  also  Arthoces, 
who  ruled  the  Iberians,  to  give  his  children  as  hostages. 
Orodes,  too,  who  sent  him  from  his  country  of  Albania  a 
golden  couch  and  other  presents,  he  amply  rewarded.  After- 
ward, turning  his  army  to  the  south,  and  passing  Mount  Lib- 
anus  in  Syria,  and  Damascus,  he  led  the  Roman  standards 
through  the  well-known  groves  of  perfumes,  and  the  forests 
of  frankincense  and  balm.  The  Arabians,  if  he  gave  them  any 
commission,  were  ready  to  execute  it.  The  Jews  made  an 
effort  to  defend  Jerusalem;  but  this  city  he  also  entered,  and 
saw  the  grand  mystery  of  an  impious  nation  laid  open,  as  it 

Not  very  likely.  Lipsius  would  strike  out  suas ;  but  it  occurs  in  all  the 
copies. 

4  To  form  a  communication  between  the  Bosporus  and  Colchis]  Colchis 
ienus  jungere  Bosporon.  "These  words  labor  under  no  small  obscurity. 
To  me.  however,  Florus  seems  to  mean  nothing  more  than  that  Mithridatc.s 
•wished,  as  Appian  states,  to  attach  to  himself  the  natives  lying  between 
the  Bosporus  and  Colchis,  and,  with  their  aid,  to  transfer  the  war  into  Eu- 
rope." D ulcer.  Madame  Dacier  thought  of  explaining  jungere  Bosporon  by 
"jungere  ripas  Bospori  ponte  ex  navibus,"  but  this  would  deprive  Cokhls 
all  meaning. 


UOOKIII.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY .  347 

were,  under  a  golden  sky.5  And  being  chosen  arbiter  between 
two  brothers,  who  were  disputing  about  the  throne,  he  gave 
sentence  that  Hyrcanus  should  be  king,  and  cast  Aristobulus, 
as  he  was  unwilling  to  submit  to  his  decision,  into  chains. 
Thus  the  Roman  people,  under  the  leadership  of  Pompey, 
having  traversed  the  whole  of  Asia  where  it  is  broadest,  made 
that  the  middle  province  of  their  empire  which  they  had  pre- 
viously accounted  the  last.  For  except  the  Parthians,  who 
preferred  coining  to  a  treaty,  and  the  Indians,  who  were  as 
yet  ignorant  of  us,  all  Asia,  between  the  Red  and  Caspian  Seas 
and  the  Ocean,  was  under  our  jurisdiction,  having  been  either 
conquered  or  overawed  by  the  arms  of  Pompey. 

CHAP.    VI.       THE  WAR  AGAINST  THE  PIRATES. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  the  Romans  were  engaged  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  world,  the  Cilicians  had  spread  themselves 
over  the  sea,  and,  by  the  obstruction  of  commerce,  and  the 
disruption  of  the  bonds  of  human  society,  had  made  the  seas 
as  impassable  by  their  piracies  as  they  would  have  been  ren- 
dered by  a  tempest. 

The  state  of  Asia,  disturbed  by  the  wars  of  Mithridates, 
gave  confidence  to  these  desperate  and  audacious  robbers,  who, 
under  covert  of  the  confusion  of  a  war  raised  by  others,  and 
the  odium  against  a  foreign  prince,  roved  up  and  down  with- 
out control.  Even  at  first,  under  a  leader  named  Isidorus,  they 
did  not  confine  themselves6  to  the  neighboring  sea,  but  exer- 
cised their  piracies  between  Crete  and  Gyrene,  and  between 
Achaia  and  the  Malean  Gulf,  which,  from  the  spoils  that  they 
took  there,  they  named  the  Golden  Gulf.  Publius  Servilius 
was  sent  against  them,  who,  though  he  worsted  their  light  and 

5  The  grand  mystery — under  a  golden  sky]  Ulud  grande  impice  gentis  ar- 
canum patens,  sub  aureo  vti  codo.    Thus  stands  the  passage  in  Duker.   Some 
editions  have  sub  aureo  vitem  ccei",  but  viUm  is  a  mere  conjecture  of  Lipsius, 
from  a  passage  in  Josephus,  Ant.,  xiv.  3,  where  it  is  said  that  ArifltoDulus 
sent  to  Eome,  as  a  present  to  Pompey,  a  golden  vine.    This  conjecture 
Salmasius,  Graevius,  and  Selden,  unite  in  condemning.     Grsevius  himself 
proposed  sub  aureo  uti  velo,  observing  that  Pompey  entered  the  Sanctum 
Sanctorum,  and  saw  in  it  nothing  but  empty  space,  covered  with  a  vail  em- 
broidered with  gold. 

6  Ch.  VI.  Did  not  confine  themselves]  Non  contentL    The  non  is  not  in 
Puker's  text,  but  the  necessity  for  it  is  shown  in  the  notes  both  by  him  and 
GrtEvins.    The  sea  between  Crete  and  Gyrene,  and  the  Malean  Gulf,  could 
not  bo  called proximum  mare  with  reference  to  Cilicia. 


348  FLORUS.  BOOK  in. 

nimble  brigantines7  with  his  heavy  and  well-appointed  ships  <  f 
war,  did  not  obtain  a  victory  without  much  bloodshed.  Ho 
was  not,  however,  content  with  driving  them  from  the  sea,  but 
sacked  their  strongest  towns,  stored  with  spoil  that  they  had 
been  long  in  collecting,  Phaselis,  Olympos,  and  Isaurus,  the 
very  stronghold  of  Cilicia,  whence,  conscious  that  he  had 
achieved  a  great  exploit,  he  assumed  the  name  of  Isauricus. 

Yet  the  pirates,  though  humbled  by  so  many  losses,  could 
not,  on  that  account,  confine  themselves  to  the  land,  but,  like 
certain  animals,  which  have  a  twofold  nature  for  living  either 
on  land  or  in  water,  they  became,  upon  the  retreat  of  the 
enemy,  impatient  of  remaining  ashore,  and  sprung  back  again 
into  the  waters,  extending  their  excursions,  indeed,  somewhat 
more  widely  than  before.  So  that  Pompey,  who  had  been  so 
fortunate  already,  was  considered  a  fit  person  to  secure  a  vic- 
tory over  these  depredators,  and  this  was  made  an  addition  to 
his  Mithridatic  province.8  Resolving,  accordingly,  to  suppress, 
at  once  and  forever,  a  plague  that  had  dispersed  itself  over 
the  whole  sea,  he  proceeded  against  it  with  extraordinary"  meas- 
ures. As  he  had  a  large  naval  force,  both  of  his  own  and  our 
allies  the  Rhodians,  he  secured  the  entrances  both  of  the  Pon- 
tus  and  the  Ocean,10  with  the  aid  of  several  captains  and  com- 
manders. Gellius  was  stationed  in  the  Tuscan  sea,  Plotius  in 
that  of  Sicily.  Gratilius  guarded  the  Ligurian  bay,  Pompeius11 
the  Gallic,  Torquatus  the  Balearic ;  Tiberius  Nero  had  charge 
of  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar,  where  the  entrance  to  our  sea  opens  ; 
Lentulus  watched  the  Libyan  sea,  Marcellinus  the  Egyptian, 
the  young  Pompeys  the  Adriatic,  Terentius  Varro  the  ^Egean 

i  Brigantines]  Myoparonas.  A  word  compounded,  according  to  Festus, 
of  two  words,  myon  (as  Scaliger  reads),  and  paron,  both  signifying  vessels 
of  some  kind.  Turnebus,  Adversary  iii.  1,  thinks  that  they  had  their  name 
from  the  island  Pares  and  the  city  Myus.  Scaliger,  on  Festus,  would  derive 
the  word  from  /J-vf,  a  mouse,  and  Paros,  on  the  supposition  that  they  were 
shaped  something  like  the  body  of  a  mouse. 

8  Was  made  an  addition  to  his  Mithridatic  province]  Mithridaticce promn- 

t  cicefacta  accessio.    "  Florus  is  in  error  in  supposing  that  the  war  against  the 

pirates  was  an  addition  or  appendix  to  the  Mithridatic  war,  for  he  was  not 

sent  against  Mithridates  till  the  war  with  the  pirates  was  ended,  as  is  clear 

from  Cicero  pro  Leg.  Manil.,  Plutarch,  and  Appian."     Duler. 

8  Extraordinary]  Dimno.  As  <5rof  and  6ai/j.6vios  are  used  among  the 
Greeks. 

10  Entrances  both  of  the  Pontus  and  the  Ocean]  Uiratjue  Ponti  et  Oceani 
era.    Both  the  Thracian  Bosporus  and  the  Fretwm  Gaditanum,  or  Strait  of 
Gibraltar. 

11  Pompeius]  Duker  conjectures  Pomponius,  as  in  Appian. 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY,  3.19 

and  Pontic,  Metellus  the  Pamphylian,  and  Csepio  the  Asiatic  ; 
while  Porcius  Cato  locked  up  the  mouth  of  the  Propontis  like 
a  gate,  with  his  ships  drawn  across  it.  Thus,  whatever  pirates 
were  to  be  found  in  any  harbor,  bay,  creek,  recess,  promontory, 
strait,  or  peninsula,  were  inclosed  and  secured,  as  it  were  with 
a  net.  Pompey  himself  directed  his  efforts  against  Cilicia,  the 
source  and  origin  of  the  war.  Nor  did  the  enemy  shrink  from 
an  engagement  with  him,  not,  indeed,  from  confidence  in  their 
strength,  but,  as  they  were  hard  pressed,  they  were  willing  to 
appear  daring.  But  they  did  nothing  more  than  meet  the 
first  onset,  for  immediately  afterward,  when  they  saw  the  beaks 
of  our  ships  encircling  them,  they  threw  down  their  weapons 
and  oars,  and,  with  a  general  clapping  of  hands,  which  was 
with  them  a  sign  of  supplication,  entreated  for  quarter.  Never 
did  we  obtain  a  victory  with  so  little  bloodshed.  Nor  was 
any  nation  afterward  found  so  faithful  to  us  ;  a  state  of  things 
which  was  secured  by  the  remarkable  prudence  of  the  general, 
who  removed  this  maritime  people  far  from  the  sight  of  the 
sea,  and  tied  them  down,  as  it  were,  to  the  inland  parts  of  the 
country.  Thus,  at  the  same  time,  he  both  recovered  the 
free  use  of  the  sea  for  ships,  and  restored  to  the  land  its 
own  men. 

In  this  triumph  what  shall  we  most  admire  ?  Its  expe- 
dition, as  being  gained  in  forty  days  ?  Its  good  fortune,  as  not 
a  single  ship  was  lost  ?  Or  its  durable  effect,  as  the  Cilicians, 
in  consequence  of  it,  were  never  after  pirates  ? 


CHAP.  VII.      THE    CRETAN   WAR. 

The  Cretan  war,  if  we  would  but  admit  the  truth,  we  our- 
selves occasioned,  solely  from  a  desire  of  subduing  that  noble 
island.  It  was  thought  to  have  favored  Mithridates,  and  we 
resolved  to  take  vengeance  for  this  offense  by  force  of  arms. 
The  first  who  invaded  the  island  was  Marcus  Antonius ;  and, 
indeed,  with  such  vast  hopes  and  confidence  of  success,  that 
he  carried  in  his  vessels  more  chains  than  arms.  He,  however, 
paid  the  penalty  of  his  rashness,  for  the  enemy  captured  most 
of  his  ships,  and  the  dead  bodies  of  the  prisoners  were  suspend- 
ed from  the  sails  and  tackling.  In  this  manner  the  Cretans, 
with  their  sails  spread,  rowed  back  in  triumph  to  harbors. 

At  a  subsequent  period,  Metellus,  after  wasting  the  whole 


350  FLORUS.  BOOK  in. 

island  with  fire  and  sword,  drove  the  inhabitants  to  their 
fortresses  and  towns,  and  took  Gnossus,1"  Erythraea,  and  Cy- 
donia,  the  mother,  as  the  Greeks  are  wont  to  call  it,  of 
its  cities  ;13  and  so  cruel  was  his  treatment  of  the  prisoners, 
that  most  of  them  poisoned  themselves,  while  others  sent 
offers  of  surrender  to  Pompey,  who  was  then  at  a  distance. 
Pompey,  though  fully  engaged  in  Asiatic  affairs,  neverthe- 
less dispatched  Antonius  as  his  deputy  to  Crete,  and  thus 
gained  reputation  from  another  man's  province.  But  Me- 
tellus  enforced  the  rights  of  war  on  the  enemy  only  the  more 
unmercifully,  and,  after  suppressing  Lasthenes  and  Panares, 
captains  of  Cydonia,  returned  home  victorious ;  yet  from  so 
remarkable  a  conquest  he  gained  nothing  more  than  the  sur- 
name of  Creticus. 

CHAP.  VIII.      THE    BALEARIC    WAR. 

As  the  family  of  Metellus  Macedonicus  was  accustomed  to 
military  surnames,  it  was  not  long,  after  one  of  his  sons  became 
Creticus,  till  the  other  was  called  Balearicus.  The  Balearic 
Isles,  at  that  time,  had  infested  the  seas  with  piratic  outrages. 
You  would  wonder  that  a  savage  people,  living  in  the  woods, 
should  venture  even  to  look  upon  the  sea  from  the  top  of  their 
rocks.  But  they  had  courage  to  go  on  board  some  ill-made 
boats,  and,  from  time  to  time,  surprised  vessels  sailing  by  with 
unexpected  attacks.  Seeing  also  a  Roman  fleet  approaching 
from  the  sea,  and  looking  upon  it  as  a  prize,  they  ventured  to 
engage  it,  and,  at  the  first  onset,  covered  the  ships  with  a  vast 
shower  of  small  and  great  stones.  Every  one  of  them  fights 
with  three  slings ;  and  who  can  wonder  that  their  execution 
with  these  instruments  is  very  sure,  when  they  are  the  only 
weapons  of  the  nation,  and  the  use  of  them  is  their  only  exer- 
cise from  their  infancy  ?  A  child  receives  no  food  from  his 
mother  but  what  he  has  struck  down  with  his  sling  at  her  bid- 
ding. But  they  did  not  long  frighten  the  Romans  with  their 
Btones  ;  for,  when  they  came  to  close  combat,  and  felt  the  ef- 
fects of  our  beaks,  and  the  weapons  that  fell  upon  them,  they 
set  up  a  bellowing  like  oxen,  and  fled  to  the  shore,  where,  dis- 

"  Ch.  VII.  Took  Gnossns}  It  is  necessary  to  supply,  in  the  Latin  text, 
cepit,  or  some  such  verb,  which,  as  Duker  observes,  seems  to  have  been 
lost. 

13  Mother  of  its  cities]  Urbium  matrem.     Its  metropolis. 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  £51 

persing    themselves  among  the   nearest   hills,  they  were  to  be 
found  before  they  could  be  conquered. 

CHAP.    IX.        THE    EXPEDITION    TO    CYPRUS. 

The  fate  of  the  islands  was  come ;  and  Cyprus,  in  conse- 
quence, was  taken  without  a  war.  Of  this  island,  which 
abounded  in  wealth  from  times  of  old,  and  was  for  this  reason14 
sacred  to  Venus,  Ptolemy  was  king  ;  but  such  was  the  fame  of 
its  riches,  and  not  without  cause,  that  a  people  who  had  con- 
quered nations,  and  was  accustomed  to  give  away  kingdoms, 
ordered,  at  the  instigation  of  Publius  Clodius  the  tribune,  that 
the  king's  property,  though  he  was  their  ally  and  still  living, 
should  be  brought  into  the  public  treasury.  Ptolemy,  upon  the 
news  of  this  decree,  hastened  his  death  by  poison.  Porcius 
Cato,  however,  brought  the  wealth  of  Cyprus  in  Liburnir.n 
vessels15  into  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber,  an  event  which  replen- 
ished the  treasury  of  Rome  more  largely  than  any  triumph. 

CHAP.    X.       THE    GALLIC    WAR. 

When  Asia  was  subdued  by  the  efforts  of  Pompey,  Fortune 
conferred  what  remained  to  be  done  in  Europe  upon  Caesar. 
There  was  still  left  the  most  savage  of  all  nations,  the  Gauls 
and  Germans  ;  and  Britain,  though  separated  from  the  whole 
world,  had  yet  one  to  conquer  it.  The  first  commotion  in 
Gaul  arose  from  the  Helvetii,  who,  lying  between  the  Rhone 
and  the  Rhine,  and  finding  their  country  insufficient  for  them, 
came  forth,  after  setting  fire  to  their  cities  (an  act  equivalent 
to  an  oath  that  they  would  not  return),  to  ask  of  us  new  set- 
tlements. But  Caesar,  having  asked  for  time  to  consider  of 
their  application,  prevented  them,  meanwhile,  from  getting  off, 
by  breaking  down  the  bridge  over  the  Rhone,  and  straightway 
drove  back  this  warlike  nation  to  their  former  abodes,  as  a 

14  Ch.  IX.  For  this  reason]  Ob  hoc.     "  I  see  no  ground  for  this  assertion : 
it  u*ag  rick,  therefore  sacred  to  Venus.    It  would  surely  rather  have  been 
sacred  to  Juno.    To  me,  therefore,  it  appears  that  we  should  read,  not  ob 
Jioc,  on  account  of  this,  but  ad  Twc,  in  addition  to  this."    Freinshemiiis. 
This  conjecture  is  approved  both  by  Graevius  and  Duker. 

15  Liburnian  vessels]  Liburnis.    "  Those  vessels  were  now  called  Libur- 
nian,  which  were  previously  termed  triremes,  quadriremes.  etc.,  as  is  shown 
by  Sheffer,  de  Miht.  Nav.  ii.  2."  Duker.    Their  name  was  from  the  Liburni, 
a 'people  of  Illyricum.    The  reader  may  consult  the  commentators  on  Hoi, 
Epod.,  i.  1. 


J3,r>2  FLORUS.  BOOK  in. 

shepherd  drives  his  flocks  into  the  fold.  The  next  affair  was  a 
war  with  the  Belgae,  which  was  attended  with  far  more  blood- 
shed, as  being  a  struggle  with  men  fighting  for  their  liberty. 
In  the  course  of  it  were  displayed  many  brave  acts  among  the 
soldiery,  and  a  remarkable  one  of  the  general  himself,  who, 
when  his  troops  were  on  the  point  of  flight,  having  snatched 
a  buckler  from  a  retreating  soldier,  hurried  to  the  front  of 
the  army,  and  restored  the  battle  by  his  own  exertions.  Then 
followed  a  naval  war  with  the  Veneti,  but  there  was  a  greater 
struggle  in  it  with  the  Ocean  than  with  the  ships  of  the  ene- 
my ;  for  the  vessels  were  rude  and  ill-shaped,  and  were  shat- 
tered as  soon  as  they  felt  our  beaks ;  but  the  contest  was 
obstructed  by  the  shallows,  as  the  Ocean,  retiring  by  its  usual 
ebbs  during  the  engagement,  seemed  disposed  to  put  a  stop  to 
the  war. 

There  were  also  other  diversities  of  operation,  according  to 
the  nature  of  the  people  and  the  ground.  The  Aquitaui,  a 
crafty  nation,  betook  themselves  to  their  caverns ;  Caesar 
ordered  them  to  be  shut  up  in  them.  The  Morini  dispersed 
themselves  among  their  woods ;  he  ordered  the  woods  to  be 
set  on  fire. 

Let  no  one  say  that  the  Gauls  arc  mere  senseless  warriors ; 
for  they  act  with  cunning.  Indutiomarus  called  together  the 
Treviri,  Ambiorix  the  Eburones  ;  and  the  two,  in  the  absence 
of  Caesar,  having  entered  into  a  conspiracy,  fell  upon  his 
lieutenant-generals.  Indutiomarus  was  valiantly  repulsed  by 
Dolabella,  and  his  head  carried  from  the  field.  Ambiorix, 
however,  placing  an  ambuscade  in  a  valley,  gave  us  by  that 
contrivance  a  defeat,  so  that  our  camp  was  plundered,  and  our 
treasure  carried  off.  Then  we  lost  Cotta,  and  Titurius  Sa- 
binus,  one  of  the  legates.  Nor  was  any  revenge  afterward 
taken  on  Ambiorix,  as  he  lay  in  perpetual  concealment  beyond 
the  Rhine. 

Yet  the  Rhine  was  not,  on  that  account,  left  unassailed; 
nor  was  it  just  that  the  receiver  and  protector  of  our  enemies 
should  escape.  The  first  battle  against  the  Germans  on  its 
banks  arose  indeed  from  very  just  grounds ;  for  the  JEdui 
made  complaints  of  their  inroads.  And  how  great  was  the 
haughtiness  of  Ariovistus  !  When  our  embassadors  said  to 
him,  "  Come  to  Caesar,"  "  And  who  is  Caesar  ?"  he  retorted  ; 
"  let  him  come  to  me,  if  he  will.  "What  is  it  to  him  what 


BOOK  m.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  353 

our  Germany  does  ?  Do  I  meddle  with  the  Romans  ?"  In 
consequence  of  this  reply,  so  groat  was  the  dread  of  the  un- 
known people  in  the  Roman  camp,  that  wills  were  publicly 
made  even  in  the  princijtria.19  But  the  greater  the  vast  bodies 
of  the  enemy  were,  the  more  were  they  exposed  to  swords  and 
other  weapons.  The  ardor  of  the  Roman  soldiers  in  the  battle 
can  not  be  better  shown  than  by  the  circumstance  that  when 
the  barbarians,  having  raised  their  shields  above  their  heads, 
protected  themselves  with  a  testudo,17  the  Romans  leaped  upon 
their  very  bucklers,  and  then  came  down  upon  their  throats 
with  their  swords. 

The  Tencteri  were  the  next  that  made  complaints  of  the 
Germans.  Caesar  then,  of  his  own  impulse,  crossed  the  Mo- 
selle18 by  a  bridge  of  ships,  and  passed  even  the  Rhine  itself, 
to  seek  the  enemy  in  the  Hercynian  forests.  But  the  whole 
nation  had  fled  away  to  their  thickets  and  fens,  so  great  alarm 
did  the  Roman  force,  suddenly  appearing  on  that  side  of  the 
river,  excite  in  them.  Nor  was  the  Rhine  crossed  by  Ca3sar 
only  once,  but  even  a  second  time,  when  a  bridge  was  built 
over  it.  The  consternation  of  the  barbarians  grew  then  much 
greater,  for  when  they  saw  their  Rhine  taken  captive  with  a 
bridge,  which  seemed  to  them  as  a  yoke  laid  upon  it,  they 
all  fled  a  second  time  to  their  woods  and  marshes,  and,  what 
was  most  vexatious  to  Ca3sar,  no  enemies  remained  to  be  con- 
quered. 

All,  therefore,  by  land  and  sea19  being  subdued,  he  cast  his 
eyes  upon  the  wide  Ocean,  and,  as  if  the  world  which  the  Ro- 
mans possessed  was  not  sufficient  for  them,  he  meditated  the 

19  Ch.  X.  Even  in  the  Principia]  Etlam  in  principiis.  "He  means  either 
that  the  chief  men  of  the  army,  military  tribunes,  prefects,  and  others,  who 
•were  quartered  in  the  principia,  made  their  wills ;  or  that  the  common  sol- 
diers, seized  with  terror,  betrayed  their  feelings  by  making  their  wills  under 
the  very  eyes  of  the  general  and  the  other  officers."  D-uker.  "  The  lower 
part  of  the  camp  was  separated  from  the  upper  by  a  broad  open  space, 
•which  extended  the  whole  breadth  of  the  camp,  called  principia,  (Lav.  vii. 
12),  where  the  tribunal  of  the  general  was  erected,  where  he  either  admin- 
istered justice  or  harangued  the  army,  Tacit.  Annal..  i.  67,  Hist.,  iii.  13' 
where  the  tribunes  held  their  courts,  (jurareddebant),  Liv.  xxviii.  24;  and 
punishments  were  inflicted,  Suet.  Oth.,  c.  1,  Aug.,  c.  24;  where  the  prin- 
cipal standards  of  the  army,  and  the  altars  of  the  gods  stood,  Tacit.  Annal., 
i.  39."  Adam's  Rom.  Ant.,  p.  343,  8vo.  ed. 

17  With  a  testndol  Testudine.    See  Sail.,  Jug.,  c.  98. 

18  The  Moselle]  Mogula.    Generally  written  MoseUa. 

»  All — by  land  and  sea]  Omnibus — terra  mariqve.  By  mart  the  people 
und  places  on  the  coast  are  meant. 


354  PLORUS  BOOK  in. 

conquest  of  another.  Having  accordingly  equipped  a  fleet, 
he  set  sail  for  Britain.  He  crossed  the  water  with  extraordin- 
ary expedition,  for,  having  started  from  a  harbor  of  the  Mo- 
rini20 at  the  third  watch,  he  reached  the  island  before  mid-day. 
The  shores  were  crowded  with  a  tumultuous  assemblage  of  the 
enemy,  and  their  chariots,  as  if  in  consternation  at  the  sight 
of  something  strange,  were  hurrying  backward  and  forward. 
Their  trepidation  was  in  consequence  a  victory  to  Ca3sar,  who 
received  arms  and  hostages  from  them  while  they  were  in 
alarm,  and  would  have  proceeded  further  along  their  coasts, 
had  not  the  Ocean  punished  his  daring  fleet  with  a  wreck. 
He  returned,  therefore,  for  the  present,  into  Gaul ;  but,  having 
augmented  his  fleet,  and  reinforced  his  army,  he  ventured 
again  upon  the  same  Ocean,  and  pursued  the  same  Britains 
into  the  Caledonian  forests,  taking  one  of  the  Cavelian  princes21 
prisoner.  Content  with  these  exploits  (for  his  object  was  not 
to  get  a  province,  but  a  name),  he  sailed  back  with  greater 
booty  than  before,  the  Ocean  itself  being  also  more  tranquil 
and  propitious,  as  if  it  acknowledged  itself  to  be  under  his 
power. 

But  the  greatest  rising  of  all  the  Gauls,  which  was  also  the 
last,  was  when  that  prince,  so  formidable  for  his  stature,  martial 
skill,  and  courage  (his  very  name,  Vercingetorix,  being  ap- 
parently intended  to  excite  terror),  drew  together  all  the 
Arverni  and  Bituriges,  in  conjunction  with  the  Carnutes  and 
Sequani.  This  king,  upon  festivals  and  days  of  assembly, 
when  he  had  the  people  collected  in  great  numbers  in  the 
groves,  roused  them,  by  his  high-spirited  harangues,  to  recover 
their  former  liberty  and  rights.  Caesar  was  at  that  time  ab- 
sent, levying  troops  at  Ravenna,  and  the  Alps  had  grown  higher 
during  the  winter,22  so  that  they  thought  his  passage  stopped. 
But  he  (such  was  his  happy  temerity  at  the  report  of  these 
proceedings),  forcing  a  way  with  a  light-armed  troop  over 

"°  Harbor  of  the  Morini]  Morino  portu.  What  harbor  Floras  means,  is 
uncertain.  The  Morini  were  on  the  coast  of  the  English  channel,  opposite 
Dover. 

«  One  of  the  Cavelian  princes]  Uhum  e  regibus  Cavelianis.  None  of  the 
editors  think  this  reading  sound.  "  Freinshemius  excellently  conjectures 
unum  e  reaibus  Cassivelauni,  or  urwm  e  regibus  Cassivdaunum ;  for  though 
Csesar  did  not  take  Cassivelaunus  himself,  Florus  may  mean  that  he  took 
some  captain  or  petty  prince  of  Cassivelaunus."  Grcemus. 

M  The  Alps  had  grown  higher  during  the  winter]  Ht/eme  creverant  Alpes. 
See  note,  c.  3,  on  qua  altius  Alpes  levat. 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  355 

tops  of  mountains  previously  impassable,  and  over  snows 
never  before  trodden,  reached  Gaul,  collected  a  force  from  the 
different  winter-quarters,  and  secured  a  position  in  the  midst 
of  the  country  before  he  was  apprehended  to  be  oa  the  borders 
of  it.  Proceeding  then  against  the  cities  that  took  the  chief 
part  in  the  insurrection,  he  overthrew  Avaricum,  with  its  gar- 
rison of  forty  thousand  men,  and  burned  to  the  ground  Alexia, 
though  relying  upon  a  force  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 
The  whole  stress  of  the  war  was  at  last  collected  about  Ger- 
govia,  a  city  of  the  Arverni,  which  eighty  thousand  men 
defended  with  the  aid  of  a  wall,  a  citadel,  and  precipitous 
rocks.  This  great  city  he  first  weakened  by  famine,  surround- 
ing it  with  a  rampart,  palisades,  a  trench  (the  river  being  let 
into  the  trench),  eighteen  towers,  and  a  high  breastwork ;  and 
afterward,  when  the  inhabitants  ventured  upon  sallies,  he 
slaughtered  them  from  the  ramparts  with  swords  and  pikes ; 
and  at  last  forced  them  to  surrender.  The  king  of  the  place 
himself  (the  greatest  ornament  of  the  victory),  after  having 
come  as  a  suppliant  to  the  Roman  camp,  and  thrown  his 
royal  ensigns  and  arms  at  the  feet  of  Caesar,  exclaimed, 
"  Receive  them  :23  thou,  O  bravest  of  men,  has  conquered  a 
brave  man." 

CHAP.  XI.      THE    PARTHIAN    WAR. 

While  the  Romans,  by  the  instrumentality  of  Caesar,  were 
subduing  the  Gauls  in  the  north,  they  received  a  grievous 
blow  from  the  Parthians  in  the  east.  Nor  could  we  complain 
of  Fortune ;  there  was  no  consolation  for  the  disaster.  The 
avarice  of  the  consul  Crassus,  who,  in  defiance  of  gods  and 
men,  was  longing  eagerly  for  Parthian  gold,  was  punished 
with  the  destruction  of  eleven  legions,  and  the  loss  of  his  own 
head. 

Metellus,  a  tribune  of  the  people,  had  cursed  Crassus,  as  he 
was  going  out  of  Rome,  with  bitter  execrations.  After  the 
army  had  passed  Zeugma,  the  Euphrates  swallowed  up  the 
standards  which  had  been  carried  into  it  by  a  sudden  whirl- 
Avind.  When  he  had  pitched  his  camp  at  Nicephorium,  em- 
Lassadors,  sent  to  him  by  king  Orodes,  urged  him  "  to  remem- 

M  Receive  them]  Habe.    Duker  has  Hates  in  the  text,  but  recommends 
'  in  his  note  the  imperative,  which  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  is  the  true 
reading. 


356  PLORUS.  BOOK  m. 

ber  the  treaties  made  with  Pompey  and  Sylla ;"  to  which  the 
consul,  whose  heart  was  set  upon  the  king's  treasures,  made, 
without  even  a  pretext  of  justice,  no  other  reply  than  that 
he  would  give  his  answer  at  Seleucia.  The  gods,  therefore, 
the  avengers  of  violated  treaties,  refused  their  assistance  neither 
to  the  secret  artifices,  nor  to  the  open  valor,  of  our  enemies. 
The  first  military  error  of  Crassus  was  to  desert  the  Euphrates, 
which  alone  could  supply  him  with  provisions  or  secure  his 
rear.  He  then  trusted  a  Syrian  named  Mazaras,  a  counterfeit 
deserter,  till,  under  his  guidance,  the  army  was  led  into  the 
middle  of  an  open  plain,  and  exposed  to  the  enemy  on  every 
side.  Scarcely,  in  consequence,  had  he  reached  Carne,"  when 
Sillaces  and  Surenas,  the  king's  generals,  displayed  their  stand- 
ards waving  with  gold  and  silken  banners.  Immediately 
afterward,  the  cavalry  gathering  around,  showered  upon  the 
Romans  their  arrows  as  thick  as  hail  or  rain.  The  army  was 
thus  cut  off  with  a  direful  slaughter.  The  consul,  being  in- 
vited to  a  conference,  would,  upon  a  given  signal,  have  fallen 
alive  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  had  not  the  Parthians,  in 
consequence  of  resistance  from  the  tribunes,  hastened  to  pre- 
vent his  escape  with  their  swords.  Yet  even  thus  his  head 
was  carried  off,  and  made  an  object  of  derision  to  the  enemy. 
His  son,  almost  in  the  sight  of  his  father,  they  cut  off  with 
the  same  weapons.  The  relics  of  the  unhappy  army,  scat- 
tered wherever  the  hope  of  escape  drove  them,  through  Ar- 
menia, Cilicia,  and  Syria,  scarcely  brought  home  the  news  of 
the  disaster. 

The  head  of  Crassus,  when  cut  off,  together  with  his  right 
hand,  was  carried  to  the  king,  and  treated  by  the  enemy,  not 
unjustly,  with  mocking  insult.  Molten  gold  was  poured  into 
his  mouth,  that  the  flesh  of  him  whose  mind  had  burned  with 
desire  of  gold,  might,  when  dead  and  inanimate,  be  burned 
with  gold  itself. 

,  CHAP.    XH.      A    RECAPITULATION. 

This  is  the  third  age  of  the  Roman  people,  described  with 
reference  to  its  transactions  beyond  the  sea ;  an  age  in  which, 
when  they  had  once  ventured  beyond  Italy,  they  carried  their 
arms  through  the  whole  world.  Of  which  age,  the  first  hun- 
dred years  were  pure  and  pious,  and,  as  I  have  called  them, 
»«  Ch.  XI.  CameJ  See  i.  11. 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  35Y 

golden,  free,  from  vice  and  immorality,  as  there  yet  remained 
the  sincere  and  harmless  integrity  of  the  pastoral  life,*5  and  the 
imminent  dre.id  of  .1  Carthaginian  enemy  supported  the  ancient 
discipline.  The  succeeding  hundred,  which  we  have  reckoned 
from  the  destruction  of  Carthage,  Corinth,  and  Numantia,  and 
from  the  inheritance  hequeathed  us  by  king  Attalus  in  Asia, 
to  the  times  of  Caesar  and  Pompey,  and  those  of  Augustus 
who  succeeded  them,  and  of  whom  we  shall  speak  hereafter, 
were  as  lamentable  and  disgraceful  for  the  domestic  calamities, 
as  they  were  honorable  for  the  luster  of  the  warlike  exploits 
that  distinguished  them.  For,  as  it  was  glorious  and  praise- 
worthy to  have  acquired  the  rich  and  powerful  provinces  of 
Gaul,  Thrace,  Cilicia,  and  Cappadocia,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
Armenians  and  Britons,  which,  though  of  not  much  advantage, 
were  great  names  to  add  to  the  splendor  of  the  empire,  so  it 
was  disgraceful  and  lamentable,  at  the  same  time,  to  have  fought 
at  home  with  our  own  citizens,  with  our  allies,  our  slaves,  and 
gladiators,  while  the  whole  senate  was  divided  into  parties. 
And  I  know  not  whether  it  would  not  have  been  better  for  the 
Roman  people  to  have  been  content  with  Sicily  and  Africa,  or 
even  to  have  been  without  them,  while  still  enjoying  the  do- 
minion of  Italy,  than  to  grow  to  such  greatness  as  to  be  ruined 
by  their  own  strength.  For  what  else  produced  those  intestine 
distractions  but  excessive  good  fortune  ?  It  was  the  conquest  of 
Syria  that  first  corrupted  us ;  and  the  succession  afterward,  in 
Asia,  to  the  estate  of  the  king  of  Pergamus.  Such  wealth  and 
riches  ruined  the  manners  of  the  age,  and  overwhelmed  the 
republic,  which  was  sunk  in  its  own  vices  as  in  a  common 
sewer.  For  how  did  it  happen  that  the  Roman  people  demanded 
from  their  tribunes  lands  and  subsistence,  unless  through  the 
scarcity,  which  they  had  by  their  luxury  produced  ?  Hence 
there  arose  the  first  and  second  sedition  of  the  Gracchi,  and  a 
third,  that  of  Apuleius.20  From  what  cause  did  the  equestrian 
order,  being  divided  from  the  senate,  domineer  by  virtue  of  the 
judiciary  laws,  if  it  was  not  from  avarice,  in  order  that  the 
revenues  of  the  state,  and  trials  of  causes,  might  be  made  a 
means  of  gain?  Hence  again  it  was  that  the  privilege  of 
citizenship  was  promised  to  the  Latins,  and  hence  Avere  the 

25  Cb.  XII.  Of  the  pastoral  life]  Pastorice  sectce.  "  That  secta  is  used  for 
a  w;iy  and  manner  of  life,  is  well  known,"  Daker.  Sectam  rationemque  vi- 
ta, Cic.  pro  Csel.,  c.  17. 

»•  That  of  Apuleius]  Sec  c.  16. 


358  FLORUS.  BOOK  HI. 

arms  of  our  allies  raised  against  us.  And  what  shall  we  say 
as  to  the  wars  with  the  slaves  ?  How  did  they  come  upon  us, 
but  from  the  excessive  number  of  slaves  ?  Whence  arose  such 
armies  of  gladiators  against  their  masters,  if  it  was  riot  that  a 
profuse  liberality,  by  granting  shows  to  gain  the  favor  of  the 
populace,  made  that  an  art  which  was  once  but  a  punishment 
of  enemies  ?  And  to  touch  upon  more  specious  vices,  did  not 
the  ambition  for  honors  take  its  rise  from  the  same  excess  of 
riches  ?  Hence  also  proceeded  the  outrages  of  Marius,  hence 
those  of  Sylhi.  The  extravagant  sumptuousness  of  banquets, 
too,  and  profuse  largesses,  were  not  they  the  effects  of  wealth, 
which  must  in  time  lead  to  want  ?  This  also  stirred  up  Catiline 
against  his  country.  Finally,  whence  did  that  insatiable  desire 
of  power  and  rule  proceed,  but  from  a  superabundance  of 
riches  ?  This  it  was  that  armed  Caesar  and  Pompey  with  fatal 
weapons  for  the  destruction  of  the  state. 

Of  all  these  domestic  distractions  of  the  Roman  people,  dis- 
tinct from  their  foreign  and  justifiable  wars,  we  shall  give  an 
acount  in  their  proper  order. 

CHAP.    XIII.       THE    SEDITIOUS    NATURE    OF    THE    TRIBUNITIAL 
POWER. 

The  Tribunitial  Power  furnished  occasions  for  all  kinds  of 
seditions;  a  power  which  under  pretense  of  maintaining  the 
rights  of  the  common  people  (for  whose  protection  it  was 
established),  but  in  reality  to  acquire  authority  for  itself,  courted 
the  favor  of  the  populace  by  proposing  laws  respecting  the 
division  of  lands,  the  distribution  of  corn,  and  the  disposal  of 
judicial  proceedings.  In  all  these  laws  there  was  indeed  a 
color  of  equity.  For  what  was  more  just,  than  that  the  com- 
mons should  have  their  full  rights  from  the  senate,  that  a  people 
who  had  conquered  all  other  nations,  and  was  master  of  the 
world,  might  not  live  without  altars  and  hearihs  of  their  own  ? 
What  was  more  equitable,  than  that  the  poorer  class  of  people 
should  be  maintained  from  the  public  treasury  of  their  country  ? 
What  was  more  conducive  to  the  security  of  equal  liberty,  than 
that,  while  the  senate  settled  the  provinces,  the  authority  of  tho 
equestrian  order  should  bo  supported  by  judicial  privileges?27 

27  Ch.  XIII.  By  judicial  privileges]  Juditiwvm  refjno.  The  law  respect- 
ing the  choice  of  judices  wns  several  times  altered.  At  lirst  tluiy  wero 
chosen  only  from  the  senators ;  afterward,  by  a  law  of  Caius  Gracchus, 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  359 

Yet  these  very  objects  led  to  harm,  and  the  unhappy  state  be- 
came a  prize  for  its  own  overthrow.  For  the  transference  of 
the  judicial  power  from  the  senate  to  the  knighte,  caused  pecu- 
lation with  regard  to  taxes,28  the  patrimony  of  the  government ; 
while  the  purchase  of  corn  exhausted  the  treasury,  the  nerves 
of  the  commonwealth.  And  how  could  the  common  people  be 
put  in  possession  of  lands,  but  by  the  ejection  of  those  that 
already  occupied  them,  who  were  themselves  a  part  of  the 
people,  and  who  moreover  held  their  estates,  as  bequeathed  to 
them  from  their  forefathers,  by  prescription  of  time  and  right 
of  inheritance  ? 

CHAP.    XIV.      THE    SEDITION    OF    TIBERIUS    GRACCHUS. 

Tiberius  Gracchus  kindled  the  first  flame  of  contention,  a  man 
who  was  unquestionably  the  first  in  Rome  for  family,  person, 
and  eloquence.  But  he,  whether  dreading  to  be  involved  in 
the  odium  of  Mancinus's  surrender29  (as  he  had  been  one  of 
the  sureties  for  the  performance  of  that  treaty),  and  joining  iu 
consequence  the  popular  party,  or  moved  by  a  regard  to  equity 
and  justice,  and  taking  pity  on  the  commons,  in  order  that  a 
people  who  had  conquered10  all  other  nations,  and  was  master 
of  the  world,  might  not  continue  exiles  from  their  own  altars 
and  hearths,  or  from  whatever  motive  he  acted,  entered  upon  a 
great  political  measure,  and,  when  the  day  for  propounding  the 
bill  for  it  was  come,  ascended  the  Rostra  attended  with  a  vast 
train  of  followers ;  nor  did  the  nobility,  on  the  other  side,  fail  to 
meet  him  with  a  body  of  opponents,  among  whom  were  the 
rest  of  the  tribunes.  But  when  Gracchus  observed  Cnaeus 
Octavius  opposing  his  laws,  he  laid  hands  upon  him,  in  viola- 
tion of  the  rights  of  the  tribunitial  body  and  the  privilege  of 
their  office,  and  thrust  him  from  the  Rostra ;  and,  besides,  put 

only  from  tho  eqnites;  next,  by  a  law  of  Csepio,  from  both  orders  ;  and  vari-- 
ous  changes  succeeded.  See  Adam's  Rom.  Antiq.,  p.  236,  8vo,  ed. 

28  Caused  peculation  with  regard  to  taxes]  Vectigalia  svpprimebat.  "  It 
i  was  easy  for  the  equitfs  (many  of  whom  were  farmers  of  the  revenues), 
when  tney  were  granted  by  the  law  of  Gracchus  the  privilege  of  being 
judices,  to  favor  those  of  their  own  class  on  trials,  arid  thus  to  allow  of  much 
malapprop  nation  of  the  public  money."  Stadias.  "  Suppressavectigaliao.ro 
intercepta  et  in  privates  nsus  conversa.  '  Supprimere  pecuniam'  for  to  con- 
vert to  one's  own  use  occurs  in  Cic.  pro  Cluent.,  c.  25,  36."  Duker. 

89  Ch.  XIV.  Mancinus's  surrender]  Mancinianae  deditionis.     See  ii.  1?. 

50  A  people  who  had  conquered,  etc.]  The  same  words  occur  in  the  prc^ 
ceding  chapter.  Probably,  as  Duker  observes,  they  ought  to  be  omitted  iu 
one  of  the  passages. 


360  FLORUS.  BOOK  m. 

him  so  much  in  fear  of  instant  death,  that  he  was  obliged  to  lay 
down  his  office.  Gracchus  was  in  consequence  made  one  of 
three  commissioners  for  the  division  of  the  lauds.  But  when, 
to  complete  his  objects,  he  requested,  at  the  comitia,  that  his 
term  of  office  might  be  prolonged,  and  a  party  of  the  nobility, 
and  of  those  whom  he  had  expelled  from  their  lands,  rose  up 
against  him,  a  sanguinary  conflict  ensued  in  the  forum.  Having, 
upon  this,  fled  to  the  Capitol,  and  exhorting  the  people  to  save 
his  life,  touching  his  head,  at  the  same  time,  with  his  hand,  he 
excited  the  idea  that  he  was  asking  for  royalty  and  a  diadem. 
The  people,  therefore,  at  the  instigation  of  Scipio  Nasica,  being 
roused  to  take  up  arms,  he  was  with  apparent  justice,  put  to 
death. 

CHAP.   XV.       THE    SEDITION    OF    CAIUS    GRACCHUS. 

Shortly  after,  Caius  Gracchus  was  animated  with  equal  ardor 
to  become  the  avenger  of  his  brother's  death  and  the  main- 
tainer  of  his  laws.  Endeavoring,  accordingly,  with  similar  tu- 
mult and  terror,  to  reinstate  the  people  in  their  forefathers'  lands, 
promising  them  the  late  bequest  of  Attains  for  their  support, 
and  becoming  elated  and  influential  by  means  of  a  second  tri- 
buneship,  he  pursued  for  a  time,  with  the  support  of  the  com- 
mon people,  an  apparently  successful  course  ;  but  when  Minucius, 
another  of  the  tribunes,  ventured  to  oppose  his  laws,  he  had  the 
boldness,  relying  on  the  aid  of  partisans,  to  take  possession  of 
the  Capitol  so  fatal  to  his  family.  Being  driven  thence,  with  a 
great  slaughter  among  his  party,  he  sought  refuge  on  Mount 
Aventine,  where,  a  number  of  the  senators  assailing  him,  he  was 
cut  off  by  the  consul  Opimius.  Insult  was  also  offered  to  his 
dead  body ;  and  the  sacred  head  of  a  tribune  of  the  people  was 
paid  for  to  his  assassins  with  its  weight  in  gold. 

CHAP.   XVI.      THE    SEDITION    OF    APULEIUS. 

Apuleius  Saturninus,  however,  still  persisted  to  promote  the 
laws  of  the  Gracchi,  so  much  was  he  encouraged  by  Marius, 
who,  being  always  an  enemy  to  the  nobility,  and  presuming, 
moreover,  on  his  consulship,  endeavored,  after  killing  openly,  at 
the  comitia,  Annius  his  competitor31  for  the  tribunate,  to  intro- 

51  Ch.  XVI.  His  competitor]  The  competitor  of  Apuleiua.  Valerius 
Maximus,  ix.  7,  3,  says  that  he  was  killed  by  the  people,  but  calls  hiui 
Aulus  Numius.  The  manuscripts  of  Floras  vary  as  to  the  name. 


IIL  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  361 

duce  in  his  stead  one  Caius  Gracchus,  a  man  without  tribe  or 
name,  but  who,  by  a  forged  pedigree,  had  represented  himself 
as  one  of  the  family  of  the  Gracchi. 

Apuleius,  exulting  with  impunity  amid  so  many  and  so 
great  outrages,  applied  himself,  with  such  determination,  to  pass 
the  laws  of  the  Gracchi,  that  he  even  prevailed  upon  the  senate 
to  take  an  oath  to  promote  his  object,  threatening  such  as  hesi- 
tated that  he  would  procure  their  exile.33  Yet  there  was  one 
who  chose  exile  rather  than  to  take  the  oath.  After  the  banish- 
ment of  Metellus,  therefore,  when  the  nobility  were  greatly 
dispirited,  and  when  he  was  domineering  in  his  third  year,  he 
proceeded  to  such  a  height  of  audacity,  that  he  even  disturbed 
the  consular  comitia  with  a  new  murder.  In  order  to  make 
Glaucias,  an  abettor  of  his  insanity,  consul,  he  ordered  his  rival 
Caius  Memmius  to  be  slain,  and,  in  the  midst  of  the  consequent 
tumult,  joyfully  heard  himself  called  king  by  his  followers.  But 
the  senate  afterward  combining  against  him,  and  Marius,  as  he 
was  no  longer  able  to  support  him,  becoming  his  opponent,  a 
pitched  battle  was  fought  in  the  forum,  and,  being  driven  from 
the  field,  he  took  refuge  in  the  Capitol.  Being,  however,  be- 
sieged, and  deprived  of  water,  and  producing  in  the  minds  of  the 
senators,  by  the  representations  of  his  deputies,  a  belief  that  he 
repented  of  what  he  had  done,  he  was  allowed  to  come  down 
from  the  Capitol,  and  was  received,  with  the  leaders  of  his  party, 
into  the  senate-house,  when  the  people,  bursting  into  the  build- 
ing, overwhelmed  him  with  sticks  and  stones,  and  tore  him  to 
pieces  before  he  was  dead. 

CHAP.    XVII.      THE    SEDITION    OF    DRUSUS. 

Last  of  all,  Livius  Drusus,  depending  not  only  on  the 
influence  of  the  tribuneship,  but  on  the  authority  of  the  senate, 
and  the  consent  of  all  Italy,  endeavored  to  promote  the  same 
laws,  and,  by  attempting  one  thing  after  another,  excited  so 
violent  a  combustion  in  the  state,  that  not  even  the  first  flash  of 
it  could  be  endured ;  and,  being  cut  off  by  a  sudden  death,  he 
left  a  war  as  an  inheritance  to  his  posterity.  The  Gracchi,  by 
their  law  respecting  the  judicial  power,  had  divided  the  Roman 
people  into  two  parties,  and  made  of  one  nation  a  state  with  two 

«  That  he  would  procure  their  exile]  Aqua,  et  igni  imterdicturum.  "  That 
ho  would  interdict  from  fire  and  water,"  the  common  form  of  words  used 
in  ihc  sentence  of  banishment. 

16 


362  FLORUS.  BOOK  IIL 

heads.  The  Roman  knights,  feeling  strong  in  such  extraordi- 
nary privileges,33  as  having  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the 
greatest  men  in  their  hands,  were,  by  intercepting  the  public 
revenues,84  robbing  the  state  at  their  pleasure  ;  while  the  senate, 
weakened  by  the  banishment  of  Metellus3*  and  the  condemna- 
tion of  Rutilius,38  had  lost  all  the  pride  of  their  dignity.  In 
this  state  of  affairs,  Servilius  Csepio  and  Livius  Drusus,  men 
equal  in  wealth,  spirit,  and  dignity  (whence  the  rivalship  that 
animated  Drusus  arose),  proceeded  to  maintain,  the  former  the 
cause  of  the  equestrian  order,  and  the  latter  that  of  the  senate. 
Standards,  eagles,  and  banners  accompanied  each,  and  there  was 
as  much  hostility  in  one  city  as  there  could  have  been  in  two 
camps.  Caepio,  in  the  first  place,  mak'ng  an  attack  upon  the 
senate,  singled  out  Scaurus  and  Philippus,  leaders  among  the 
nobility,  to  prosecute  them  for  bribery  at  elections.  Drusus,  to 
oppose  these  proceedings,  attracted  the  populace  to  his  side  by 
the  prospect  of  passing  the  laws  of  the  Gracchi,  and  inspired 
the  allies,  by  means  of  the  same  laws,  with  the  hope  of  obtain- 
ing the  civic  franchise.  There  is  a  saying  of  his  remembered, 
"  that  he  had  left  nothing  for  any  one  to  give  away,  unless  he 
would  distribute  dust  or  air."  The  day  for  proposing  the  bills 
arrived,  when  suddenly  so  vast  a  multitude  showed  themselves 
on  all  sides,  that  the  city  seemed  to  be  beset  with  a  crowd  of 
enemies.  Yet  the  consul  Philippus  ventured  to  oppose  the  bills ; 
but  an  officer,  seizing  him  by  the  throat,  did  not  let  him  go  till 
the  blood  gushed  from  his  mouth  and  eyes.  The  bills  were 
accordingly  proposed  and  passed  by  force.  But  the  allies,  im- 
mediately afterward,  demanded  the  civic  franchise  which  had 
been  offered  as  the  price  of  their  assisting  to  pass  them,  when 
death,  meantime,  carried  off  Drusus,  who  was  unable  to  keep 
his  word,  and  who  was  sick  of  the  disturbances  which  he  had 
rashly  excited  ;  a  death  very  seasonable  at  such  a  crisis.  Never- 
theless, the  allies  did  not,  on  that  account,  cease  to  demand,  bv 
force  of  arms,  the  performance  of  Drusus's  promise  from  the 
Roman  people. 

33  Cb.  XVII.    Extraordinary  privileges]  The  judices  being  now  elected 
from  the  equites.     See  note  on  c.  13. 

34  Intercepting  the  public  revenues]  Interceptis  vectigalibus.     See  note  o"» 
c.  13. 

35  Metellus]  See  c.  16. 

st  Kutilius]  He  had  held  the  consulship,  and  was  a  man  of  high  charac- 
ter, but  was  brought  to  trial  for  extortion,  and  condemned  by  a  faction  of 
the  equites.  StadiMS. 


BOOK  ill.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  363 


CHAP.    XVIII.       THE    \VAK    WITH    THE    ALLIES. 

Though  this  war  be  called  a  war  with  the  allies,  to  extenuate 
the  odium  of  it,  it  was,  if  we  acknowledge  the  truth,  a  civil 
war.  For  as  the  people  of  Rome  united  in  itself  the  Etrurians, 
the  Latins,  and  the  Sabines,  and  derives  one  blood  from  them 
all,  it  formed  one  body  of  those  several  members,  and  is  one 
people  composed  of  them  all.  Nor  did  the  allies  with  less  dis- 
grace excite  an  insurrection  within  Italy  than  the  citizens  within 
the  city. 

When  the  allies,  therefore,  had  with  great  justice87  demanded 
the  freedom  of  a  city  which  they  had  strengthened  by  their 
exertions  (with  the  hope  of  which  Drusus,  from  a  desire  of 
getting  power,  had  inspired  them),  the  same  firebrand  that 
burned  Drusus,  inflamed  the  allies,  after  he  was  cut  off  by  the 
perfidy  of  his  fellow-citizens,  to  take  up  arms  and  attack  the 
city.  Than  such  an  outbreak  what  could  be  more  sad,  what 
more  calamitous  ?  when  all  Latiurn  and  Picenum,  all  Etruria 
and  Campania,  and  at  last  Italy  itself,  rose  up  in  arms  against 
their  metropolis  and  parent ;  when  those  monsters  of  ingrati- 
tude from  the  municipal  towns  led  all  the  flower  of  our  most 
brave  and  faithful  allies  under  their  several  standards,  Popedius 
heading  the  Marsians,  Afranius  the  Latins,  their  whole  senate 
and  consuls  the  Umbrians,38  and  Telesinus  the  Samnites  and 
Lucanians ;  and  Avhen  a  people  that  was  arbiter  of  princes  and 
nations  could  not  govern  itself,  and  Rome,  that  had  conquered 
Asia  and  Europe,  was  assailed  from  Corfinium. 

The  first  step  in  the  war  was  to  have  been  taken  on  the  Alban 
Mount,  when,  on  the  festival  of  the  Latin  Ferice,  the  consuls, 

37  Ch.  XVIII.  With  great  justice]  Justissime.  "  This  does  not  seem  to 
be  consistent  with" what  is  said  above,  that  the  allies  excited  an  insurrec- 
tion with  disgrace  to  themselves  (jvigitio).  Unless  Florus  means  that 
though  the  demands  of  the  allies  were  'just,  yet  they  ought  to  have  home 
patiently  with  the  refusal  of  them  on  the  part  of  Rome,  which  they  were 
to  regard  as  their  mother-city,  just  as  children  bear  with  hard  treatment 
from  their  parents."  Duller. 

>8  Their  whole  senate  and  consuls  the  Umbrians]  Umbras  totus  senates  et 
C'lnnile*.  Lipsius,  Freinshemius,  Faber,  Perizonius,  Grsevius-and  Duker, 
r.re  unanimous  in  suspecting  this  passage  of  being  corrupt.  The  name  ot 
a  leader  seems  to  be  wanting.  Perizonius  thinks  that  we  should  read  Po- 
pe J  ins  Marsos  et  Latinos;  Afranivg  Umbros  ;  Egnativs  Samni/um  /  Lvcani- 
ttMt/n?  TtleniniiK.  '•  Egnntius  was  an  eminent  general  of  the  enemy,  whom 
l.ivy,  Epit.,  lib.  Ixxv.,  calls  ndbilissimvm  ducem,  and  whom  it  is  not  likely 
that  Florus  would  have  omitted  to  mention."  Dukcr. 


364  PLORUS.  BOOK  in. 

Julius  Caesar  and  Marcus  Philippus,  were  to  have  been  assassi- 
nated amid  the  sacrifices  and  altars.  That  atrocity  being  pre- 
vented by  a  discovery,  the  whole  fury  of  the  war  burst  forth  at 
Asculurn,  where  certain  commissioners,  who  had  come  from 
Rome,  were  slain  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd  at  the  public  games. 
This  outrage  bound  them,  as  it  were  by  an  oath,  to  prosecute 
the  impious  war.  Immediately,  therefore,  the  various  signals 
for  hostilities  sounded  through  tribes  and  cities  from  every 
quarter  of  Italy,  Popedius,  the  leader  and  author  of  the  war, 
hurrying  about  from  one  place  to  another.  Neither  the  devas- 
tation spread  by  Hannibal,  nor  that  by  Pyrrhus,  was  so  great 
as  the  present.  Ocriculum  and  Grumentum,  Fesulae  and  Car- 
seoli,  Reate,  Nuceria,  and  Picentia,  were  laid  waste  with 
slaughter,  fire,  and  sword.  The  forces  of  Rutilius,  the  forces  of 
Caepio,  were  alike  defeated.  Julius  Csesar  himself,  having  lost 
his  army,  and  being  brought  back  to  Rome  covered  with 
blood,  passed  through  the  city  a  wretched  corpse.  But  the 
great  good  fortune  of  the  Roman  people,  always  more  remark- 
able in  adversity  than  prosperity,  rose  again  in  all  its  might. 
Their  generals,  respectively,  defeated  the  people  whom  they 
attacked ;  Cato  dispersed  the  Etrurians,  Gabinius  the  Mar- 
sians,  Carbo  the  Lucanians,  Sylla  the  Samnites ;  and  Pompeius 
Strabo,  laying  waste  the  country  about  Asculum  with  fire  and 
sword,  did  not  cease  from  destroying,  till,  by  the  overthrow  of 
the  place,  he  had  made  atonement  to  the  manes  of  SQ  many 
armies  and  consuls,  and  to  the  gods  of  so  many  devastated 
cities. 

CHAP.   XIX.        THE    WAR,    AGAINST   THE    SLAVES. 

Though,  in  the  preceding  war,  we  fought  with  our  allies, 
(which  was  bad  enough,)  yet  we  contended  with  free  men,  and 
men  of  good  birth :  but  who  can  with  patience  hear  of  a  war 
against  slaves  on  the  part  of  a  people  at  the  head  of  all  nations  ? 
The  first  war  with  slaves  occurred  in  the  infancy  of  Rome,  in 
the  heart  of  the  city,  when  Herdonius  Sabinus  was  their  leader, 
and  when,  while  the  state  was  distracted  with  the  seditions  of 
the  tribunes,  the  Capitol  was  besieged  and  wrested  by  the  con- 
sul  from  the  servile  multitude.  But  this  was  an  insurrection 
rather  than  a  war.  At  a  subsequent  period,  when  the  forces  of 
the  empire  were  engaged  in  different  parts  of  the  world,  who 
would  believe  that  Sicily  was  much  more  cruelly  devastated  by 


BOOK  m.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  305 

a  war  with  slaves  than  in  that  with  the  Carthaginians  ?  This 
country,  fruitful  in  corn,  and,  in  a  manner,  a  suburban  pro- 
vince, was  covered  with  large  estates  of  many  Roman  citizens ; 
and  the  numerous  slave-houses,  and  fettered  tillers  of  the 
ground,  supplied  force  enough  for  a  war.  A  certain  Syrian,  by 
name  Eunus,  (the  greatness  of  our  defeats  from  him  makes  us 
remember  it,)  counterfeiting  a  fanatical  inspiration,  and  tossing 
his  hair  in  honor  of  the  Syrian  goddess,  excited  the  slaves,  by 
command  of  heaven  as  it  were,  to  claim  their  liberty  and  take 
up  arms.  And  that  he  might  prove  this  to  be  done  by  super- 
natural direction,  he  concealed  a  nut  in  his  mouth,  which  he 
had  filled  with  brimstone  and  fire,  and,  breathing  gently,  sent 
forth  flame  together  with  his  words.  This  prodigy  at  first 
attracted  two  thousand  of  such  as  came  in  his  way ;  but  in  a 
short  time,  by  breaking  open  the  slave-houses,  he  collected  a 
force  of  above  sixty  thousand ;  and,  being  adorned  with  ensigns 
of  royalty,  that  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  his  audacity,  he 
laid  waste,  Avith  lamentable  desolation,  fortresses,  towns,  and 
villages.  The  camps  even  of  praetors  (the  utmost  disgrace  of 
war)  were  taken  by  him;  nor  will  I  shrink  from  giving  their 
names ;  they  were  the  camps  of  Manilius,  Lentulus,  Piso,  and 
Hypsaeus.  Thus  those,  who  ought  to  have  been  dragged  home3* 
by  slave-takers,  pursued  praetorian  generals  routed  in  battle. 
At  last  vengeance  was  taken  on  them  by  our  general  Perperna ; 
for  having  conquered  them,  and  at  last  besieged  them  in  Enna, 
and  reduced  them  with  famine  as  with  a  pestilence,  he  threw 
the  remainder  of  the  marauders  into  chains,  and  then  crucified 
them.  But  over  such  enemies  he  was  content  with  an  ovation, 
that  he  might  not  sully  the  dignity  of  a  triumph  with  the  name 
of  slaves. 

Scarcely  had  the  island  recovered  itself,  when  it  passed  from 
the  hands  of  a  Syrian  slave  to  those  of  a  Cilician.  Athenio,  a 
shepherd,  having  killed  his  master,  formed  his  slaves,  whom  he 
had  released  from  the  slave-house,  into  a  regular  troop.  Then, 
equipped  with  a  purple  robe  and  a  silver  scepter,  and  with  a 
crown  on  his  head  like  a  king,  he  drew  together  no  less  an 
army  than  the  fanatic  his  predecessor,  and  laying  waste,  with 
even  greater  fury,  (as  if  taking  vengeance  for  his  fate,)  villages, 
fortresses,  and  towns,  he  vented  his  rage  upon  the  masters,  but 

*•  Ch.  XIX.  To  have  been  dragged  home]  Betrahi.    Many  editions  have 
diztrahi. 


366  FLORUS.  BOOK  m. 

still  more  violently  on  the  slaves,  whom  he  treated  as  renegades. 
By  him,  too,  some  armies  of  praetors  were  overthrown,  and  the 
camps  of  Servilius  and  Cucullus  taken.  But  Aquilius,  follow- 
ing the  example  of  Perperna,  reduced  the  enemy  to  extremities 
by  cutting  off  his  supplies,  and  easily  destroyed  by  famine 
forces  which  were  well  defended  by  arms.  They  would  have 
surrendered,  had  they  not,  from  dread  of  punishment,  prefen  ed 
a  voluntary  death.  Not  even  on  their  leader  could  chastise- 
ment be  inflicted,  though  he  fell  alive  into  our  hands,  for  while 
the  people  were  disputing  who  should  secure  him,  the  prey 
was  torn  to  pieces  between  the  contending  parties. 


CHAP.    XX.       THE    WAR    AGAINST    SPARTACCS. 

We  may,  however,  support  the  dishonor  of  a  war  with  slaves, 
for  though  they  are,  by  their  circumstances,  subjected  to  all 
kinds  of  treatment,  they  are  yet,  as  it  were,  a  second  class  of 
men,  and  may  be  admitted  to  the  enjoyment  of  liberty  with 
ourselves.  But  the  war  raised  by  the  efforts  of  Spartacus  I 
know  not  by  what  name  to  call,  for  the  soldiers  in  it  were 
slaves,  and  the  commanders  gladiators ;  the  former  being  per- 
sons of  the  meanest  condition,  and  the  latter  men  of  the  worst 
character,  and  adding  to  the  calamity  of  their  profession  by  its 
contempt! bleness.  Spartacus,  Crixus,  and  (Enomaus,  breaking 
out  of  the  fencing  school  of  Lentulus,  escaped  from  Capua, 
with  not  more  than  thirty  of  the  same  occupation,  and,  having 
called  the  slaves  to  their  standard,  and  collected  a  force  of  more 
than  ten  thousand  men,  were  not  content  with  merely  having 
escaped,  but  were  eager  to  take  vengeance  on  their  masters. 
The  first  theater  for  action  that  attracted  them  was  Mount 
Vesuvius.  Here,  being  besieged  by  Clodius  Glaber,  they  slid 
down  a  passage  in  the  hollow  part  of  the  mountain,  by  means 
of  ropes  made  of  vine-branches,  and  penetrated  to  the  very 
bottom  of  it;  when,  issuing  forth  by  an  outlet  apparently  im- 
practicable, they  captured,  by  a  sudden  attack,  the  camp  of  the 
Roman  general,  who  expected  no  molestation.  They  afterward 
took  other  camps,  and  spread  themselves  to  Cora,  and  through 
the  whole  of  Campania.  Not  content  with  plundering  the 
country  seats  and  villages,  they  ravaged,  with  terrible  devasta- 
tion, Nola  and  Nuceria,  Thurii  and  Metapontum.  Being  joined 
by  new  forces  day  after  day,  and  forming  themselves  into  a 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  3C7 

regular  army,  they  made  themselves,  out  of  osiers  and  beasts' 
lii'.les,  a  rude  kiiid  of  shields,  and  out  of  the  iron  from  the 
slave-houses  forged  swords  and  other  weapons.  And  that 
nothing  proper  might  be  wanting  to  the  complement  of  the 
army,  they  procured  cavalry  by  breaking  in  the  herds  of  horses 
that  came  in  their  way,  and  conferred  upon  their  leader  the 
ensigns  and  fasces  that  they  took  from  the  prators.  Nor  did 
he,  who  of  a  mercenary  Thracian  had  become  a  Roman  soldier, 
of  a  soldier  a  deserter  and  robber,  and  afterward,  from  consid- 
eration of  his  strength,  a  gladiator,  refuse  to  receive  them. 
He  afterward,  indeed,  celebrated  the  funerals  of  his  own  officers, 
who  died  in  battle,  with  the  obsequies  of  Roman  generals,  and 
obliged  the  prisoners  to  fight  with  arms  at  their  funeral  piles, 
just  as  if  he  could  atone  for  all  past  dishonor  by  becoming, 
from  a  gladiator,  an  exhibitor  of  shows  of  gladiators.  Engag- 
ing next  with  the  armies  of  the  consuls,  he  cut  to  pieces  that 
of  Lentulus,  near  the  Apennines,  and  destroyed  the  camp  of 
Caius  Cassius  at  Mutina.  Elated  by  which  successes,  he  de- 
liberated (which  is  sufficient  disgrace  for  us)  about  assailing  the 
city  of  Rome.  At  length  an  effort  was  made  against  this 
swordsman  with  the  whole  force  of  tKe  empire,  and  Licinius 
Crassus  avenged  the  honor  of  Rome,  by  whom  the  enemies  (I 
am  ashamed  to  call  them  so)  being  routed  and  put  to  flight, 
betook  themselves  to  the  furthest  parts  of  Italy.  Here,  being 
shut  up  in  a  corner  in  Bruttium,  and  attempting  to  escape  into 
Sicily,  but  having  no  ships,  and  having  in  vain  tried,  on  the 
swift  current  of  the  strait,  to  sail  on  rafts  made  of  hurdles  and 
casks  tied  together  with  twigs,  they  at  last  sallied  forth,  and 
died  a  death  worthy  of  men.  As  was  fitting  under  a  gladiator 
captain,  they  fought  without  sparing  themselves.40  Spartacus 
himself,  fighting  with  the  utmost  bravery  in  the  front  of  the 
battle,  fell  as  became  their  general. 

CHAP.    XXI.       THE    CIVIL    WAR    OF    MARIUS    AMD    SYLLA. 

This  only  was  wanting  to  complete  the  misfortunes  of  the 
Romans,  that  they  should  raise  an  unnatural  war  among  them- 
selves, and  that,  in  the  midst  of  the  city  and  forum,  citizens 

40  Ch.  XX.  Without  sparing  themselves]  Sine  missi/me.  "  That  is,  even 
to  death.  Mlssio  was  leave  to  withdraw  from  the  battle,  which  was  some- 
times granted  to  conquered  gladiators  ;  but  when  it  was  determined  that 
they  should  fight  till  one  of  them  was  killed,  the  struggle  was  said  to  h« 
fine  missione."  Freinshemius. 


368  FLORUS.  BOOK  in. 

should  fight  with  citizens,  like  gladiators  in  an  amphitheater. 
I  should  bear  the  calamity,  however,  with  greater  patience,  if 
plebeian  leaders  or  contemptible  nobles  had  been  at  the  head 
of  such  atrocity ;  but  even  Marius  and  Sylla41  (O  indignity  ! 
such  men,  such  generals !)  the  grace  and  glory  of  their  age, 
lent  their  eminent  characters  to  this  worst  of  evils.  It  was 
carried,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  under  three  constellations,42 
the  first  movement  being  light  and  moderate,  an  affray  rather 
than  a  war,  for  the  violence  prevailed  only  between  the  leaders 
themselves  ;  in  the  next  rising,  the  victory  spread  with  greater 
cruelty  and  bloodshed,  through  the  very  bowels  of  the  whole 
senate ;  the  third  conflict  exceeded  not  merely  animosity  be- 
tween citizens,  but  that  between  enemies,  the  fury  of  the  war 
being  supported  by  the  strength  of  all  Italy,  and  rancor  raging 
till  none  remained  to  be  killed. 

The  origin  and  cause  of  the  war  was  Marius's  insatiable  am- 
bition of  honors,  in  endeavoring  to  procure  for  himself  the  pro- 
vince decreed  to  Sylla  by  a  law  of  Sulpicius.43  Sylla,  provoked 
at  this  injustice,  immediately  led  back  his  legions,  and,  putting 
off  the  war  with  Mithridates,  poured  two  bodies  of  troops  into 
the  city  by  the  Esquiline  and  Colline  gates.  Here  Sulpicius 
and  Albinovanus  designedly  throwing  their  troops  in  his  way, 
and  sticks,  stones,  and  other  weapons  being  discharged  on  him 
on  all  sides  from  the  walls,  he  himself  also  threw  weapons  in 
return,  and  forced  a  passage  even  by  fire,  and  triumphantly  oc- 
cupied the  citadel  on  the  Capitoline  hill  as  a  captured  fortress, 
a  place  which  had  escaped  being  taken  by  the  Carthagin- 
ians and  the  Gauls.  Having  then  by  a  decree  of  the  senate, 
pronounced  his  opponents  enemies  to  the  state,  he  proceeded 
to  the  utmost  severities,  by  forms  of  law,  upon  the  tribune  who 
was  present,44  and  others  of  the  adverse  faction.  Flight  like 
that  of  a  slave  saved  Marius,  or  rather  Fortune  preserved  him  for 
another  war. 

In  the  consulship  of  Cornelius  Cinna  and  Cnaeus  Octavius, 
1  the  fire,  which  had  been  but  imperfectly  suppressed,  burst  forth 

41  Ch.  XXI.  But  even  Marina  and  Sylla]  Quum  vero — Marius  et  Sytta. 
All  the  commentators  see  that  this  passage  sta_nds  in  need  of  some  correc- 
tion. Freinshemius  conjectures  jam  vero.  Lipsius  and  Madame  Dacier, 
with  less  felicity,  turn  vero. 

«  Under  three  constellations]  Tribus — sideribus.    See  note  on  ii.  8. 

43  A  law  of  Sulpicius]    S-ulpicia,  lege.    Sulpicius  was  a  tribune  of  the 
people,  who  had  procured  a  law  to  be  passed  for  this  purpose. 

44  The  tribune  who  was  present]  Sulpicius,  apparently. 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  3  69 

afresh,  being  excited,  indeed,  by  a  disagreement  between  the 
consuls  themselves,  on  a  proposal  being  made  to  the  people  for 
recalling  such  as  the  senate  had  declared  enemies.  The  assem- 
bly met  armed  with  swords,  but  the  party  that  preferred  peace 
and  quiet  prevailing,  Cinna  was  driven  from  his  country,  and 
fled  to  join  Marius.  Marius  then  returned  from  Africa,  the 
greater  for  his  misfortunes ;  for  the  report  of  his  imprisonment, 
chains,  flight,  and  exile,  had  surrounded  his  dignity  with  a  cer- 
tain awe.  At  the  name  of  so  great  a  man  people  flocked  to- 
gether from  all  parts ;  slaves  (a  disgraceful  proceeding),  and 
persons  condemned  to  the  prisons,  were  armed  in  his  cause  ; 
and  the  unhappy  general  easily  found  an  army.  Claiming  by 
force,  therefore,  a  restoration  to  his  countiy  from  which  he  had 
by  force  been  expelled,  he  might  seem  to  have  acted  with  jus- 
tice, had  he  not  stained  his  cause  by  cruelty.  But  as  he  re- 
turned at  enmity  with  gods  and  men,46  at  the  very  first  eruption 
of  his  fury,  Ostia,  the  ward  and  foster-child  of  the  city,  was 
pillaged  with  miserable  havoc ;  and  his  army  next  entered  Rome 
in  four  bodies,  Cinna,  Marius,  Carbo,  and  Sertorius,  dividing  the 
troops  among  them.  Here,  when  the  whole  force  of  Octavius 
had  been  driven  from  the  Janiculum,  and  a  signal  had  been 
immediately  after  given  for  the  slaughter  of  the  leading  men, 
somewhat  more  of  cruelty  was  shown  than  would  have  been 
practiced  in  a  town  of  the  Carthaginians  or  the  Cimbri.  The 
head  of  the  consul  Octavius  was  exposed  upon  the  Rostra  ;  that 
of  Antonius,  who  had  held  the  consulship,  was  displayed  on  Ma- 
rius's  dining-table  ;  the  Caesars48  were  killed  by  Fimbria  in  the 
midst  of  their  own  household-gods  ;  the  two  Crassi,  father  and 
son,  each  in  the  sight  of  the  other ;  the  hooks  of  the  execution- 
ers dragged  Baebius  and  Numitoritis  through  the  middle  of  the 
forum  ;  Catulus  released  himself  from  the  insults  of  his  enemies 
by  swallowing  fire ;  Merula,  the  priest  of  Jupiter,  sprinkled  the 
face  of  Jupiter  himself  with  blood  from  his  veins ;  Ancharius 
was  stabbed  in  the  sight  of  Marius  himself,  because,  forsooth,  he 
did  not  stretch  out  that  fatal  hand47  when  he  saluted  him. 

45  At  enmity  with  gods  and  men]  Die  Tiominibusque  vnfestus.  Depernte  ,• 
conscious  that  both  gods  and  men  were  already  enraged  with  him,  and  not 
caring'  how  much  further  he  provoked  them. 

48  The  Caesars]  Caius  and  Lucius,  two  brothers. 

47  He  did  not  stretch  out  that  fatal  hand,  etc.]  Quia  fatalem  ittam  scilicet 
nanum  non  porrexerat  sahttanti.  Ancharius  approached  to  salute  Marius, 
but  Mariua  did  not  hold  out  his  hand  to  him ;  the  followers  of  Marius, 

1.G* 


370  FLORUS.  BOOK  nr. 

Such  and  so  many  deaths  of  senators  did  the  seventh  consulship 
of  Marius  produce,  between  the  calends  and  ides  of  the  month 
of  January.  What  would  have  happened  if  he  had  completed 
the  year  of  his  consulship  ? 

In  the  consulate  of  Scipio  and  Norbanus  the  third  tempest 
of  civil  rage  thundered  forth  with  its  whole  fury,  eight  legions, 
and  five  hundred  cohorts,  being  ranged  in  arms  on  the  one  sk'.e, 
and  on  the  other  Sylla  returning  from  Asia  with  his  victorious 
army.  And  since  Marius  had  been  so  cruel  to  the  party  of 
Sylla,  how  much  further  cruelty  was  necessary  that  Sylla  might 
be  avenged  on  Marius?  The  first  conflict  took  place  at  Capua, 
near  the  river  Vulturnus,  where  the  army  of  Norbanus  was  in- 
stantly put  to  flight,  and  the  forces  of  Seipio,  immediately  after- 
ward, surprised,  while  hopes  of  peace  were  held  out  to  them. 
The  younger  Marius  and  Carbo,  being  then  made  consuls,  as  if 
despairing  of  ultimate  victory,  but  purposing  not  to  fall  un- 
avenged, sacrificed  to  their  own  manes,  as  it  were,  beforehand, 
with  the  blood  of  the  senate  ;  and  the  senate-house  being  beset, 
its  members  were  led  forth,  as  prisoners  from  a  jail,  to  be  put 
to  death.  What  slaughters  were  committed  in  the  Forum,  in 
the  Circus,  in  the  open  temples  !  Quintus  Mucius  Scaevola,  one 
of  the  pontifices,  embracing  the  Vestal  altars,  was  almost  buried 
in  the  same  fire  with  them.  Lamponius  and  Telesinus,  leaders 
of  the  Samnites,  wasted  Campania  and  Etruria  more  cruelly 
than  Pyrrhus  and  Hannibal  had  done,  and  revenged  themselves 
under  pretense  of  supporting  their  party.  But  at  Sacriportus, 
and  the  Colline  gate,  all  the  forces  of  Marius  were  defeated. 
At  the  former  place  Marius,  at  the  latter  Telesinus,  was  con- 
quered. The  end  of  the  war,  however,  was  not  the  end  of  the 
massacres ;  for  swords  were  drawn  even  in  peace,  and  venge- 
ance was  taken  even  on  such  as  had  voluntarily  surrendered. 
It  was  a  less  atrocity  that  Sylla  cut  to  pieces  more  than  seventy 
thousand  men  at  Sacriportus  and  the  Colline  gate,  for  it  was 
then  war ;  but  it  was  a  greater  that  he  ordered  four  thousand 
unarmed  citizens  to  be  butchered  in  the  Villa  Publica.48  Were 
there  so  many  killed  in  peace,  and  no  more  ?  Who,  indeed, 
can  reckon  those  whom  every  one  that  would,  killed  in  the 
city  ?  until  Fufidius  admonishing  Sylla  that  "  some  ought  to  be 

therefore,  dispatched  him,  according  to  directions  which  they  had  previ- 
ously received. 
«"  Villa  Publica]  See  the  psuedo-Sallust's  Second  Epistle  to  Csesur,  c.  5. 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  371 

K-ft  alive,  that  there  might  be  people  for  them  to  rule,"  that 
great  proscription-list  was  put  forth,  and  two  thousand  were 
selected,  out  of  the  equestrian  and  senatorial  orders,  to  be 
sentenced  to  die.  This  was  an  edict  of  a  new  kind.  It  grieves 
me  to  state,  after  these  proceedings,  that  the  deaths  of  Carbo, 
Soranus  the  praetor,  and  Venuleius,  were  subjects  of  sport ; 
that  Baebius  was  severed  limb  from  limb,  not  by  the  sword, 
but  by  the  hands  of  men,  like  wild  beasts  ;49  and  that  Marius, 
the  brother  of  the  general,  was  kept  alive  awhile  at  the  se- 

Eulcher  of  Catulus,  his  eyes  being  put  out,  and  his  hands  and 
jgs  being  cut  off  one  after  another,  that  he  might  die  as  it  were 
piecemeal. 

When  the  punishment  of  individuals  were  nearly  over,  the 
first  municipal  towns  in  Italy  were  put  up  to  sale,  Spoletium, 
Interamnium,  Prasneste,  and  Florence.  As  to  Sulmo,  an  ancient 
city  in  alliance  and  friendship  with  us,  Sylla  (a  heinous  act)  or- 
dered it,  though  not  taken  by  siege,  to  be  destroyed ;  just  as 
enemies  condemned50  by  the  laws  of  arms,  and  malefactors  sen- 
tenced to  death,  are  ordered  to  be  led  to  execution. 


CHAP.  XXII.     THE  WAR  WITH  SERTORIUS. 

What  was  the  war  with  Sertorius  but  a  consequence  of  Sylla's 
proscription  ?  Whether  I  should  call  it  a  war  with  foreign 
enemies,  or  a  civil  war,  I  do  not  know,  as  it  was  one  which  Lusi- 
tanians  and  Celtiberiaas  carried  on  under  the  conduct  of  a  Ro- 
man. Sertorius,  a  man  of  great  but  unsuccessful  ability,  be- 
coming an  exile  and  fugitive  from  that  fatal  proscription,  dis- 
turbed sea  and  land  in  consequence  of  his  ill-treatment ;  and, 
trying  his  fortune,  at  one  time  in  Africa,  and  at  another  in  the 
Balearic  isles,  and  being  driven  over  the  Ocean,51  went  as  far  as 

48  Like  -wild  beasts]  Rituferarum.    As  beasts  would  be  torn. 

60  Enemies  condemned,  etc.]  The  concluding  sentence  of  this  chapter  is 
nearly  unintelligible.     It  stands  thus  in  Duker's  edition :  Nam  Sulmonem, 
fetus  oppidvm,  socium  at-que  amicum  (facim/3  indiquvm!)  nondum  expun'j- 
natum,  nt  dbsidesjure  belli,  et  modo  morte  damnati  duei  jvbentur :  sic  damna- 
tam  cicitatem  jussit  Sulla  dderi.    Tforobsidfs  Gronovius  proposed  to  Graevius 
to  read  hostts,  -which  succeeding  critics  have  approved.    Modo  no  one  has 
attempted  to  explain,  except  Wopkens  (Lect.  Tullian,  5,  transcribed  by 
Duker),  who  says  that  it  means  nulld  quaestione  adkibitd,  cceco  impetu,  or, 
as  we  should  say,  "  off-hand."     I  have  given  to  the  passage,  in  the  trans- 
lation, the  sense  in  which  I  must  suppose  that  Florus  intended  it ;  omitting 
the  word  damnatnm. 

61  Ch.  XXII.    Being  driven  over  the  Ocean]    Missuque   in   Octanum. 


372  FLORUS.  BOOK  in. 


the  Fortunate  Islands,  and  at  length  armed  Spain.  A 
man  easily  unites  himself  with  brave  men  ;  nor  did  the  valor 
of  the  Spanish  soldiery  ever  appear  greater  than  under  a  Roman 
general.  Nor  was  he  indeed  content  with  Spain,  but  extended 
his  views  to  Mithridates  and  the  people  of  Pontus,  and  assisted 
that  king  with  a  fleet.  And  what  would  have  happened  if  they 
had  formed  a  junction  ?  The  Roman  state  could  not  withstand 
so  powerful  an  enemy  as  Sertorius  by  means  of  one  general 
only.  To  Metellus  was  joined  Cnaeus  Pompey  :  and  those  two 
wasted  his  forces  for  a  long  time,  though  always  with  doubtful 
success  ;  nor  was  he  at  last  subdued  in  the  field,  until  he  was 
betrayed  by  the  villainy  and  treachery  of  those  about  him.  Hav- 
ing pursued  his  forces  through  almost  all  Spain,  they  were  long 
in  reducing  them,  the  contests  being  always  such  that  victory 
was  dubious.  The  first  battles  were  fought  under  the  command 
of  the  lieutenant-generals  ;  Domitius  and  Thorius52  making  a 
commencement  on  one  side,  and  the  brothers  Herculeii  on  the 
other.  Soon  afterward,  the  two  latter  being  overthrown  at  Se- 
govia, and  the  former  at  the  river  Anas,  the  generals  themselves 
tried  their  strength  in  the  field,  and  at  Lauron  and  Sucro  suffer- 
ed equal  loss  on  both  sides.  Part  of  our  army  then  devoting 
itself  to  the  devastation  of  the  country,  and  part  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  cities,  unhappy  Spain  suffered  for  the  disagreement 
between  the  Roman  generals,63  till  Sertorius,  being  cut  oft'  by 
the  treachery  of  his  people,  and  Perperna  being  defeated  and 
given  up,  the  cities  themselves  submitted  to  the  power  of  the 
Romans,  as  Osca,  Termes,  Tutia,  Valentia,  Auxima,  and,  after 
having  endured  the  extremity  of  famine,  Calagurris.  Spain  was 
thus  restored  to  peace.  The  victorious  generals  would  have  the 
war  accounted  rather  a  foreign  than  a  civil  one,  that  they  might 
have  the  honor  of  a  triumph. 

CHAP.  XXIII.       THE    CIVIL   WAR   UNDER   LEPIDU8. 

In  the  consulship  of  Marcus  Lepidus,  and  Quintus  Catulus,  a 
civil  war  that  was  kindled  was  suppressed  almost  before  it  be- 

Misws,  as  the  critics  observe,  can  hardly  be  right.  Lipsius  conjectures 
victus,  Perizonius  fus-us. 

68  Domitius  and  Thorins]  Lieutenant-generals  of  Metellus  ;  the  brothers 
Herculeii,  on  the  side  of  Sertorius,  are  mentioned  by  Frontin,  i.  5,  8,  Livy, 
Epit.,  xc.,  Eutrop.,  vi.  1,  and  other  authors. 

63  Roman  generals]  Sertorius  and  his  opponents.  Sertoriua  was  by  birtk 
a  Sabine. 


BOOK  in.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  373 

gan  ;  but  how  violent  was  it  !54  It  was  a  spark  of  the  great 
civil  contention  that  had  spread  abroad  its  fires  from  the  very 
funeral  pile  of  Sylla.  For  Lepidus,  in  his  presumption,  being 
eager  for  a  change  in  the  state  of  affairs,  prepared  to  annul  the 
acts  of  that  eminent  man,  and  not  indeed  unjustly,  if  he  could 
have  done  so  without  much  injury  to  the  commonwealth.  But 
he  would  not ;  for  since  Sylla,  as  dictator,  had  proscribed  his 
enemies  by  right  of  war,  if  Lepidus  recalled  those  of  them  that 
survived,  for  what  other  end  were  they  recalled  than  for  a  war "? 
And  since  Sylla  had  assigned  the  estates  of  the  condemned  citi- 
zens, though  seized  unjustly,  yet  by  form  of  law,  a  demand  for 
their  restitution  would  no  doubt  disturb  the  city  that  was  now 
tranquilized.  It  was  expedient,  therefore,  for  the  sick  and 
wounded  republic  to  continue  quiet  on  any  terms,  lest  its  wounds 
should  be  torn  open  by  the  dressing. 

Lepidus,  then,  having  alarmed  the  state,  as  with  the  blast  of 
a  trumpet,  by  his  turbulent  harangues,  set  out  for  Etruria,  and 
thence  brought  arms  and  an  army  against  Rome.  But  Luta- 
tius  Catulus  and  Cngeus  Pompey,  the  captains  and  ringleaders 
under  Sylla's  tyranny,  had  previously  occupied  the  Milvian 
bridge,  and  the  Janiculan  hill,  with  another  army.  Being 
repulsed  by  these  generals  in  the  first  encounter,  and  after- 
ward declared  an  enemy  by  the  senate,  he  fled  back,  without 
loss,  to  Etruria,  and  thence  retired  to  Sardinia,  where  he  died 
of  disease  and  sorrow  of  mind.  The  conquerors,  which  was 
scarcely  ever  the  case  in  civil  wars,  were  content  with  re-estab- 
lishing peace. 


BOOK  IV. 

CHAP.    I.       THE    INSURRECTION    OF    CATILINE. 

It  was  in  the  first  place  expensive  indulgence,  and,  in  the 
next,  the  want  of  means  occasioned  by  it,  with  a  fair  opportu- 

54  Ch.  XXIII.  But  how  violent  was  it !]  In  all  the  editions  the  passage 
stands,  Sed  quantum  lateque  fax  illius  motus  ab  ipso  Syllce  rogo  exarslt  I 
Quantum  late/lite  is  mere  nonsense,  as  all  the  commentators  allow,  except 
Perizoniua,  who  would  make  it  equivalent  to  quantum  et  qitam  latk,  but,  as 
Duker  remarks,  he  should  have  shown  that  other  writers  so  express  them- 
selves. N.  Heinsius  conjectures  quantum  quamque  late;  Duker,  qvam 
late  •  Is.  Vossius,  quam  longe  lateque.  I  have  not  attempted  any  close  ad- 
herence to  the  text.  Madame  Dacier  was  inclined  to  expunge  both  quantum 
and  latique. 


8/4  PLORU3.  BOOK  iv. 

nity  at  the  same  time  (for  the  Roman  forces  were  tln-a  ;il>ro;i<l 
iii  the  remotest  parts  of  the  world),  that  led  Catiline  to  form  the 
atrocious  design  of  subjugating  his  country.  With  what  ac- 
complices (direful  to  relate !)  did  he  undertake  to  murder  tho 
senate,  to  assassinate  the  consuls,  to  destroy  the  city  by  fire," 
to  plunder  the  treasury,  to  subvert  the  entire  government,  and 
to  commit  such  outrages  as  not  even  Hannibal  seems  to  have 
contemplated  !  He  was  himself  a  patrician  ;  but  this  was  only 
a  small  consideration  ;  there  were  joined  with  him  the  Curii,  the 
Porcii,  the  Syllae,  the  Cethegi,  the  Antronii,  the  Vargunteii,  the 
Longini,  (what  illustrious  families,  what  ornaments  of  the  sen- 
ate !)  and.  Lentulus  also,  who  was  then  praetor.  All  these  he 
had  as  supporters  in  his  horrid  attempt.  As  a  pledge  to  unite 
them  in  the  plot,  human  blood56  was  introduced,  which,  being 
carried  round  in  bowls,  they  drank  among  them  ;  an  act  of  the 
utmost  enormity,  had  not  that  been  more  enormous  for  which 
they  drank  it.  Then  would  have  been  an  end  of  this  glorious 
empire,  if  the  conspiracy  had  not  happened  in  the  consulship  of 
Cicero  and  Antonius,  of  whom  one  discovered  the  plot  by  vigi- 
lance, and  the  other  suppressed  it  by  arms. 

The  revelation  of  the  atrocious  project  was  made  by  Fulvia, 
a  commoa  harlot^  but  unwilling  to  be  guilty  of  treason  against 
her  country.  The  consul  Cicero,  accordingly,  having  convoked 
the  senate,  made  a  speech  against  the  accused,  who  was  then 
present  in  the  house  ;  but  nothing  further  was  effected  by  it, 
than  that  the  enemy  made  off,  openly  and  expressly  declaring" 
that  he  would  extinguish  the  flame  raised  against  him  by  a 
general  ruin.  He  then  set  out  to  an  army  which  had  been  pre- 
pared by  Manlius  in  Etruria,  intending  to  advance  under  arms 
against  the  city.  Lentulus,  meanwhile,  promising  himself  the 
kingdom  portended  to  his  family  by  the  Sibylline  verses,  disposed 
throughout  the  city,  against  a  day  appointed  by  Catiline,  men, 
combustibles,  and  weapons.  And  not  confined  to  plotting 

65  Ch.  I.  To  destroy  the  city  by  fire]  Distringere  incendiis  urbem.  So  ad 
distringendam  libertatem,  Sen.  Belief.,  vi.  34,  where  Lipsius  would  read 
destringendam. 

*«  Human  blood]  See  Sail.,  Cat.,  c.  22. 

67  Openly  and  expressly  declaring]  Seque  pcdam  professo  incendium,  etc. 
The  pas.siiere  is  evidently  corrupt.  Madame  Dacier  would  strike  out  pro- 
fesso; Graavius  would  eject  palam,  and  read  ex  professo,  adverbially. 
Gronovius  would  read  eequepalamprofessus,  etc.,  which  Vossius,  Rupertus, 
and  apparently  Dnker,  approve,  and  which,  seems  to  be  the  only  reasonable 
way  of  correcting  the  passage. 


BOOK  IT.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  3-75 

among  the  people  of  the  city,  the  rage  for  the  conspiracy,  hav- 
ing excited  the  deputies  of  the  AHobroges^  who  happened  then 
to  be  at  Home,  to  give  their  voice  in  favor  of  war,  would  have 
spread  beyond  the  Alps,  had  not  a  letter  of  Lentulus  been  inter- 
cepted through  the  information  of  Vulturcius.  Hands  were 
immediately  laid  on  the  barbarian  deputies,  by  order  of  Cicero  ; 
and  the  pra3tor  was  openly  convicted  in  the  senate.  When  a 
consultation  was  held  about  their  punishment,  Caesar  gave  his 
opinion  that  they  should  be  spared  for  the  sake  of  their  rank. 
Cato  that  they  should  suffer  the  penalty  due  to  their  crime. 
Cato's  advice  being  generally  adopted,  the  traitors  were 
strangled  in  prison. 

But  though  a  portion  of  the  conspirators  were  thus  cut  off, 
Catiline  did  not  desist  from  his  enterprise.  Marching,  however, 
with  an  army  from  Etruria  against  his  country,  he  was  defeated 
by  a  force  of  Antonius  that  encountered  him  on  the  way.  Ho\v 
desperate  the  engagement  was,  the  result  manifested  ;  for  not  a 
man  of  the  rebel  troops  survived.  Whatever  place  each  had 
occupied  in  the  battle,  that  very  spot,  when  life  was  extinct,  he 
covered  with  his  corpse.  Catiline  was  found,  far  in  advance  of 
his  men,  among  the  dead  bodies  of  the  enemy  ;  a  most  glorious 
death  had  he  thus  fallen  for  his  country. 

CHAP.    II.       THE    WAR    BETWEEN    CJESAR    AND    POMPEY. 

Almost  the  whole  world  being  now  subdued,  the  Roman  em- 
pire was  grown  too  great  to  be  overthrown  by  any  foreign 
power.  Fortune,  in  consequence,  envying  the  sovereign  people 
of  the  earth,  armed  it  to  its  own  destruction.  The  outrages  of 
Marius  aud  Cinna  had  already  made  a  sort  of  prelude  within 
the  city,  as  if  by  way  of  trial.  The  storm  of  Sylla  had  thun- 
dered even  further,  but  still  within  the  bounds  of  Italy.  The 
fury  of  Caesar  and  Pompey,  as  with  a  general  deluge  or  con- 
flagration, overran  the  city,  Italy,  other  countries  and  nations, 
and  finally  the  whole  empire  wherever  it  extended  ;  so  that  it 
can  not  properly  be  called  a  civil  war,  or  war  with  allies ; 
neither  can  it  be  termed  a  foreign  war ;  but  it  was  rather  a  war 
consisting  of  all  these,  or  even  something  more  than  a  war.  If 
we  look  at  the  leaders  in  it,  the  whole  of  the  senators  were  on 
one  side  or  the  other ;  if  we  consider  the  armies,  there  were  on 
one  side  eleven  legions,  and  on  the  other  eighteen,  the  entire 
flower  and  strength  of  the  manhood  of  Italy ;  if  we  content 


376  FLORUS.  BOOK  IT. 

plate  the  auxiliary  forces  of  the  allies,  there  were  on  one  side 
levies  of  Gauls  and  Germans,  on  the  other  Deiotarus,  Ariobar- 
zanes,  Tarcondimotus, M  Cotys,  and  all  the  force  of  Thrace,  Cap- 
padocia,  Cilicia,  Macedonia,  Greece,  JEtolia,  and  all  the  East ; 
if  we  regard  the  duration  of  the  war,  it  was  four  years,  a  time 
short  in  proportion  to  the  havoc  made  in  it ;  if  we  attend  to 
the  space  and  ground  on  which  it  was  conducted,  it  arose  within 
Italy,  whence  it  spread  into  Gaul  and  Spain,  and,  returning  from 
the  west,  settled  with  its  whole  force  on  Epirus  and  Thessaly ; 
hence  it  suddenly  passed  into  Egypt,  then  turned  toward  Asia, 
next  fell  upon  Africa,  and  at  last  wheeled  back  into  Spain, 
where  it  at  length  found  its  termination.  But  the  animosities 
of  parties  did  not  end  with  the  war,  nor  subsided  till  the  hatred 
of  those  who  had  been  defeated  satiated  itself  with  the  murder 
of  the  conqueror  in  the  midst  of  the  city  and  the  senate. 

The  cause  of  this  calamity  was  the  same  with  that  of  all 
others,  excessive  good  fortune.  For  in  the  consulship  of  Quin- 
tus  Metellus  and  Lucius  Afranius,  when  the  majesty  of  Rome 
predominated  throughout  the  world,  and  Rome  herself  was  cel- 
ebrating, in  the  theaters  of  Pompey,  her  recent  victories  and 
triumphs  over  Pontus  and  Armenia,  the  overgrown  power  of 
Pompey,  as  is  usual  in  similar  cases,  excited  among  the  idle  cit- 
izens a  feeling  of  envy  toward  him.  Metellus,  discontented  at 
the  diminution  of  his  triumph  over  Crete,69  Cato,  ever  an  enemy 
to  those  in  power,  calumniated  Pompey,  and  raised  a  clamor 
against  his  acts.  Resentment  at  such  conduct  drove  Pompey 
to  harsh  measures,  and  impelled  him  to  provide  some  support 
for  his  authority.  Crassus  happened  at  that  time  to  be  distin- 

guished  for  family,  wealth,  and  honor,  but  was  desirous  to  have 
is  power  still  greater.  Caius  Cassar  had  become  eminent  by 
his  eloquence  and  spirit,  and  by  his  promotion  to  the  consulate. 
Yet  Pompey  rose  above  them  both.  Caesar,  therefore,  being 
eager  to  acquire  distinction,  Crassus  to  increase  what  he  had 
got,  and  Pompey  to  add  to  his,  and  all  being  equally  covetous 
of  power,  they  readily  formed  a  compact  to  seize  the  govern- 
ment. Striving,  accordingly,  with  their  common  forces,  each 
for  his  own  advancement,  Caesar  took  the  province  of  Gaul, 

68  Ch.  II.  Tarcondimotus]  A  prince  of  Cilicia;  Cotys,  a  king  of  Thrace. 

69  At  the  diminution  of  his  triumph  over  Crete]    Ob  imminutum   Greta 
triumphum.     "  Not  complaining  without  reason,  for  the  greatest  ornament 
of  his  triumph;  the  captive  leaders,  had  been  kept  back  by  Pompey."  Veil. 
1'at.,  ii.  40.    Ihon.  Cass.,  lib.  xxxvi. 


BOOK  rv.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  ;]77 

Crasstis  that  of  Asia,  Pompey  that  of  Spain  ;  they  had  three 
vast  armies,*0  and  thus  the  empire  of  the  world  was  now  held 
by  these  three  leading  personages.  Their  government  extended 
through  ten  years.  At  the  expiration  of  this  period  (for  they 
had  previously  been  kept  in  restraint  by  dread  of  one  another), 
a  rivalry  broke  forth  between  Caesar  and  Pompey,  consequent 
on  the  death  of  Crassus  among  the  Parthians,  and  that  of 
Julia,  who,  being  married  to  Pompey,  maintained  a  good  un- 
derstanding between  the  son-in-law  and  father-in-law  by  means 
of  this  matrimonial  bond.  But  now  the  power  of  Caesar  was 
an  object  of  jealousy  to  Pompey,  and  the  eminence  of  Pom- 
pey was  offensive  to  Caesar.  The  one  could  not  bear  an  equal, 
nor  the  other  a  superior.  Sad  to  relate,  they  struggled  for 
mastery,  as  if  the  resources  of  so  great  an  empire  would  not 
suffice  for  two.  Accordingly,  in  the  consulship  of  Lentulus 
and  Marcellus,  their  first  bond  of  union  being  broken,  the  sen- 
ate, that  is,  Pompey,  began  to  think  of  a  successor  to  Caesar 
in  the  consulate ;  nor  did  Caesar  refuse  to  comply  with  their 
wishes,  if  regard  were  but  had  to  him  at  the  following  elec- 
tion. But  the  consulship,  which  ten  tribunes  of  the  people, 
with  Pompey's  approbation,  had  recently  decreed  him  in  his 
absence,  was  now,  as  Pompey  remained  neutral,  refused  him. 
It  was  insisted  "that  he  should  come  and  sue  for  it  accord- 
ing to  ancient  usage."  He,  on  the  other  hand,  demanded 
what  had  been  decreed  him,  and  declared,  that  unless  they 
adhered  to  their  word,  he  would  not  part  with  his  army. 
A  decree  was  accordingly  passed  against  him  as  an  enemy. 

Caesar,  provoked  at  these  proceedings,  resolved  to  secure 
the  rewards  of  arms  by  means  of  arms.  The  first  scene  of 
action,  in  this  civil  war,  was  Italy,  of  which  Pompey  had  oc- 
cupied the  strongholds  with  light  garrisons.  But  they  were 
all  overpowered  by  the  sudden  advance  of  Caesar.  The  first 
signal  for  battle  sounded  from  Ariminum,  when  Libo  was  ex- 
pelled from  Etruria,  Thermus  from  Umbria,  and  Domitius  from 
Corfinium.  The  war  would  have  been  finished  without  blood- 
shed, if  Caesar  could  have  surprised  Pompey  at  Brundusium; 
and  he  would  have  surprised  him,  had  he  not  escaped  by 
night  through  the  barricade  of  the  besieged  harbor.  Dishon- 

•°  Three  vast  armies]  Tres  maximos  exercitus.  These  words  are  without 
a  verb  in  the  original.  "Some  verb,"  says  Gravius,  "such  as  Itabuere, 
must  have  been  lost  out  of  the  text ;  or  the  three  words  must  have  beeu  an 
interpolation." 


378  FLORUS.  BOOK  TV. 

orable  to  relate  !  he  that  was  recently  at  the  head  of  the  serial  o, 
the  arbiter  of  peace  and  war,  fled  across  the  sea,  over  which  !;<> 
had  once  triumphed,  in  a  single  vessel  that  was  shattered  and 
almost  dismantled.  Nor  was  Pompey  driven  from  Italy  sooner 
than  the  senate  was  forced  from  the  city,  which  Caesar  having 
entered,  when  it  was  almost  evacuated  from  fear  of  him, 
created  himself  consul.  The  sacred  treasury,  too,  as  the 
tribunes  were  slow  in  unlocking  it,  he  ordered  to  be  broken 
open,  seizing  the  revenue  and  property  of  the  Roman  people 
before  he  seized  their  empire. 

Pompey  being  driven  off  and  put  to  flight,  Caesar  thought 
it  better  to  regulate  the  provinces  before  proceeding  to  pur- 
sue him.  Sicily  and  Sardinia,  to  be  assured  of  corn,  he  se- 
cured by  means  of  his  lieutenant-generals.  In  Gaul  there  were 
no  remains  of  hostility;  for  he  himself  had  established  peace 
in  it.  But  Marseilles,  when  he  wished  to  pass  through  it  in 
his  way  to  the  Spanish  armies  of  Pompey,  ventured  to  shut  her 
gates  against  him.  The  unhappy  city,  desirous  of  peace,  fell 
into  a  war  through  fear  of  war.  But,  as  it  was  fortified  with 
walls,  he  left  it  to  be  reduced  for  him  in  his  absence.  The 
men  of  this  Greek  city,  in  opposition  to  the  effeminacy  of  its 
character,01  ventured  to  break  through  the  enemy's  lines,  to  set 
lire  to  their  machines,  and  engage  them  with  their  vessels. 
But  Brutus,  to  whom  the  conduct  of  the  siege  had  been  en- 
trusted, defeated  them  by  land  and  sea,  and  utterly  subdued 
them.  At  length,  when  they  surrendered,  every  thing  was 
taken  from  them,  except,  what  they  valued  above  every  thing, 
their  liberty. 

In  Spain,  a  doubtful,  varied,  and  bloody  contest  awaited  Caesar 
with  Petreius  and  Afranius,  the  generals  of  Pompey,  whom, 
when  they  were  lying  encamped  at  Ilerda,  near  the  river  Sico- 
ris,  he  attempted  to  besiege  and  to  cut  them  off  from  the  town. 
In  the  mean  time,  by  an  overflow  of  the  river  in  the  spring,  he 
himself  was  prevented  from  getting  provisions.  Thus  his  camp 
was  assailed  by  famine,  and  the  besieger  was  himself  in  a  man- 
ner besieged.  But  when  the  river  subsided,  it  left  the  plains 
free  for  devastation  and  contest.  Ca3sar  then  pressed  fiercely 

•>  In  opposition  to  the  effeminacy  of  its  character]  Nonpro  mollitie  nomi- 
nis.  "  Not  in  accordance  with  report,  which  represented  all  the  Greeks, 
not  excepting  those  of  Marseilles  at  that  period,  as  unwarlike  and  spiritless  ; 
for  that  the  people  of  that  city  had  then  degenerated  from  their  former 
reputation  for  valor,  is  shown  by  BOB  on  Cic.,  Ep.  Att.,  x.  12."  Duker. 


BOOK  iv.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  079 

up<  >n  the  enemy,  and,  having  overtaken  them  as  they  were  re- 
treating to  Celtiberia,  forced  them  with  a  mole  and  line  of 
circumvallation,  and  consequent  privation  of  water,  to  capit- 
ulate. 

Hither  Spain  was  thus  secured ;  nor  did  Farther  Spain  long 
resist.  For  what  could  one  legion  do  after  five  had  been  de- 
feated ?  Vavro,  therefore,  readily  submitting,  Cadiz,  the  Strait 
of  Gibraltar,  the  ocean,  and  every  thing  else  acknowledged  the 
superior  fortunes  of  Caesar.  Fortune,  however,  in  Illyricum  and 
Africa,  made  some  attempt  against  him  in  his  absence,  as  if 
oa  purpose  that  his  successes  might  be  made  more  striking  by 
something  unfavorable.  For  when  Dolabella  and  Antony, 
who  were  ordered  to  secure  the  entrance  to  the  Adriatic,  had 
pitched  their  camps,  the  former  on  the  Illyrian,  the  latter  on 
the  Curictan  shore,'2  at  a  time  when  Pompey  was  master  of  a 
vast  extent  of  sea,  Octavius  Libo,  Pompey's  lieutenant-general, 
suddenly  surrounded  both  of  them  with  a  large  force  from  the 
fleet.  Famine  forced  Antony  to  surrender.  Some  flat  boats 
sent  to  his  assistance  by  Basilus,  such  as  want  of  ships  had 
obliged  them  to  make,  were  caught,  as  it  were,  in  a  net,  by 
means  of  ropes  stretched  under  the  water,  through  a  new  con- 
trivance of  the  Cilicians  in  Pompey's  service.  Two  of  them, 
however,  the  tide  brought  off;  but  one,  which  bore  some  men 
of  Opitergium,  struck  upon  the  shallows,  and  underwent  a  fate 
deserving  to  be  remembered  by  posterity.  A  party  of  some- 
thing less  than  a  thousand  men63  sustained,  for  a  whole  day, 
the  weapons  of  an  army  that  entirely  surrounded  them ;  and, 
when  their  valor  had  no  way  of  escape,  they  agreed,  in  order 
to  avoid  a  surrender,  and  at  the  instigation  of  the  tribune  Vul- 
teius,  to  kill  one  another. 

In  Africa  the  valor  of  Curio  was  equalled  by  his  ill-fortune ; 
for,  being  sent  to  secure  that  province,  and  elated  with  the  con- 
quest and  rout  of  Varus,  he  was  unable  to  make  a  stand  against 
the  sudden  arrival  of  king  Juba  and  the  Mauretanian  cavalry. 
After  he  was  defeated,  he  might  have  fled ;  but  shame  prompted 
him  to  die  with  the  army  which  was  lost  by  his  rashness. 

But  fortune  now  summoning  the  pair  of  combatants,  destined 

«*  Curictan  shore]  Gurictico  litore.  "  From  Cnricta,  a  town  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  Adriatic,  called  by  Ptolemy  Koupt/cra."  Salmasiu*.  The 
copies  vary  greatly  ;  some  have  Corcyrceo  ;  others  Cretico. 

•a  A  thousand  men]  Not  in  one  boat ;  though  it  would  seem  to  be  so 
iTom  the  text. 


380  FLORUS.  BOOK  iv. 

to  contend  for  the  empire  of  the  world,  Pompey  fixed  on  Epirus 
for  the  seat  of  warfare,  nor  was  Caesar  slow  to  meet  him ;  for, 
having  settled  every  thing  in  his  rear,  he  set  sail,  though  the 
middle  of  winter  obstructed  his  passage  by  unfavorable  weather, 
to  pursue  the  war ;  and,  having  pitched  his  camp  at  Oricum, 
and  finding  that  part  of  his  forces,  which  had  been  left  with 
,  Antony  for  want  of  ships,  made  some  delay  at  Brundusuim,  he 
grew  so  impatient,  that,  to  get  them  over,  he  attempted  to  sail 
alone  in  a  spy-boat  at  midnight,  though  the  sea  was  tempestu- 
ously agitated  by  the  wind.  A  saying  of  his  to  the  master  of 
the  boat,  who  was  alarmed  at  the  greatness  of  the  danger,  is 
well  remembered ;  "  What  dost  thou  fear  ?  Thou  earnest 
Caasar." 

When  the  forces  of  Caesar  and  Pompey  were  assembled  from 
every  quarter,  and  their  camps  were  pitched  at  no  great  dis- 
tance, the  plans  conceived  by  the  generals  were  widely  differ- 
ent. Caesar,  naturally  daring,  and  eager  to  bring  the  affair  to 
a  conclusion,  displayed  his  troops,  and  challenged  and  harassed 
the  enemy,  sometimes  by  besieging  their  camp,  which  he  had 
inclosed  with  a  wall  of  sixteen  miles  in  circuit ;  (but  what  hurt 
could  a  siege  do  to  those  who,  from  the  sea  being  open,  had 
abundance  of  supplies)  ?  sometimes  by  fruitless  attacks  on  Dyr- 
rachuim  (a  place  which  even  its  situation  rendered  impregna- 
ble), and,  at  the  same  time,  by  constant  engagements  with  their 
parties  as  they  sallied  out  (at  which  time  the  extraordinary 
valor  of  Scaeva,  the  centurion,  was  displayed,  into  whose  shield 
a  hundred  and  twenty  weapons  penetrated),84  as  well  as  by 
plundering  such  cities  as  had  joined  Pompey,  among  which  he 
wasted  Oricum,  and  Gomphi,  and  other  strongholds  of  Thessaly. 
To  counteract  these  attempts,  Pompey  contrived  delays,  and 
declined  to  fight,  in  order  that  he  might  wear  out  the  enemy, 
who  were  hemmed  in  on  all  sides,  with  want  of  provisions,  and 
that  the  ardor  of  his  impetuous  opponent  might  be  exhausted. 
But  the  prudent  plan  of  the  general  did  not  long  avail  him ; 
the  soldiers  found  fault  with  the  inaction  in  which  they  were 
kept,  the  allies  with  the  protraction  of  the  war,  and  the  nobility 
with  the  general's  love  of  power.  Thus  the  fates  hurrying  him 
on,  Thessaly  was  chosen  as  the  theater  for  battle,  and  the  des- 

•*  A  hundred  and  twenty  weapons  penetrated]  Centum  atque  viyinti  tfla 
sedere.  Some  copies  have  centum  ato'tie  quadraginta.  In  Caesar,  B.  o.  iii. 
53.  it  is  stated  that  the  number  «f  holes  in  the  shield  was  a  honored  and 
thirty. 


BOOK  ir.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  381 

tiny  of  the  city,  the  empire,  and  the  whole  of  mankind,  was 
committed  to  the  plains  of  Philippi.  Never  did  fortune  behold 
so  many  of  the  forces,  or  so  much  of  the  dignity,  of  the  Roman 
people  collected  in  one  place.  More  than  three  hundred  thou- 
sand men  were  assembled  in  the  two  armies,  besides  the  auxili- 
ary troops  of  kings  and  nations.  Nor  were  there  ever  more 
manifest  signs  of  some  approaching  destruction  ;  the  escape  of 
victims,  swarms  of  bees  settling  on  the  standards,  and  darkness 
in  the  day  time :  while  the  general  himself,  in  a  dream  by 
night,  heard  a  clapping  of  hands  in  his  own  theater  at  Rome, 
which  rung  in  his  ears  like  the  beating  of  breasts  in  sorrow ; 
and  he  appeared  in  the  morning  (an  unlucky  omen)  !  clad  in 
black  in  the  center  of  the  army. 

As  to  the  a:  my  of  Csesar,  it  was  never  possessed  of  greater 
spirit  and  alacrity.  It  was  on  his  side  that  the  trumpets  first 
sounded,  and  the  darts  were  first  discharged.  The  javelin  of 
Crastinus,  too,  was  noticed  as  that  of  the  beginner  of  the  battle ; 
who,  being  soon  after  found  among  the  dead  bodies  of  the  enemy, 
with  a  sword  thrust  into  his  mouth,  proved  by  the  strangeness  of 
the  wound  the  eagerness  and  rage  with  which  he  fought.  Nor 
was  the  issue  of  the  contest  less  wonderful.  For  though  Pompey 
had  so  much  larger  a  number  of  horse,  that  he  seemed  capable 
of  easily  hemming  in  Caesar,  he  was  himself  hemmed  in. 
When  they  had  fought  a  long  time  without  advantage  on  either 
side,  and  Pompey's  cavalry  had  galloped  forward  at  his  com- 
mand from  one  of  the  wings,  the  German  cohorts  on  the  other 
side,  at  a  given  signal,  suddenly  met  the  horse  in  their  course 
with  so  furious  a  charge,  that  the  cavalry  seemed  to  be  but  in- 
fantry, and  the  infantry  to  advance  with  the  force  of  cavalry. 
On  the  overthrow  of  the  retreating  horse  followed  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  light-armed  foot.  Consternation  then  spreading 
wider  and  wider,  and  the  troops  of  Pompey  throwing  each 
other  into  confusion,  the  slaughter  of  the  rest  was  effected  as 
with  one  hand,65  nor  did  any  thing  contribute  to  the  overthrow 
of  the  army  so  much  as  its  magnitude.  Caesar  exerted  him- 
self greatly  in  the  battle,  acting  a  middle  part  as  it  were,  be- 
tween a  commander  and  a  soldier.  Some  sayings  of  his,  too, 
which  fell  from  him  as  he  rode  about,  were  caught  up  ;  one  of 
which  was  cruel,  but  judicious  and  conducive  to  the  victory, 

•»  As  with  ono  bund]  Quasi  unA  manu.     "That  is,  very  easily,  without 
ellbrt;  110  great  force  being  ncoe.-ssury  to  effect  it."  Rupertus. 


382  FLORUS.  BOOK  iv. 

"  Soldiers,  strike  at  the  face ;"  another,  uttered  when  he  was  in 
pursuit,  was  intended  only  for  effect,  "  Spare  your  country- 
men." 

Happy  had  Pompey  been,  though  in  misfortune,  had  the 
same  fate  that  overwhelmed  his  army  fallen  upon  himself.  He 
survived  his  honor,  to  flee  on  horseback,  with  more  disgrace, 
through  Thessaliati  Tempe  ;  to  reach  Lesbos  in  one  small  ves- 
sel; to  be  driven  from  Syedrae,66  and  to  meditate,  upon  a  desert 
rock  of  Cilicia,  an  escape  to  Parthia,  Africa,  or  Egypt ;  and, 
finally,  to  die  on  the  shore  of  Pelusium,  in  sight  of  his  wife  and 
children,  at  the  word  of  a  most  contemptible  prince;,  at  the  in- 
stigation of  eunuchs,  and,  that  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  his 
calamities,  by  the  sword  of  Septimius,  a  deserter  from  his  own 
army. 

With  the  death  of  Pompey  who  would  not  have  supposed 
that  the  war  had  been  concluded  ?  But  the  ashes  of  the  fire 
of  Thessaly  burst  forth  into  flame  again  with  much  more  vio- 
lence and  heat  than  before.  In  Egypt,  indeed,  a  war  arose 
against  Caesar  without  the  influence  of  the  Roman  faction. 
Ptolemy,  king  of  Alexandria,  having  committed  the  crowning 
atrocity  of  the  civil  war,  and  assured  himself  of  the  friendship  of 
Caesar  by  means  of  Poinpey's  head,  but  Fortune,  at  the  same  time, 
demanding  vengeance  for  the  manes  of  so  great  a  man,  an  op- 
portunity for  her  purpose  was  not  long  wanting.  Cleopatra,  the 
king's  sister,  falling  at  the  feet  of  Caesar,  entreated  that  a  part 
of  the  kingdom  might  be  restored  to  her.  The  damsel07  had 
beauty,  and  its  attractions  were  heightened  by  the  circumstance 
that,  being  such  as  she  was,  she  seemed  to  have  suffered  injus- 
tice ;  while  Caesar  had  a  dislike  for  the  king08  her  brother,  who 
had  sacrificed  Pompey  to  the  fortune  of  party,  and  not  from  re- 
gard to  Caesar,  aud  who  would  have  doubtless  have  treated  Cae- 
sar himself  in  a  similar  manner,  had  his  interest  required  it. 
Caesar,  desiring  that  Cleopatra  should  be  reinstated  in  power, 
was  immediately  beset  in  the  palace  by  the  same  persons  that 
had  assassinated  Pompey ;  but  with  wonderful  bravery,  though 

*•  Driven  from  Syedrae]  Pulsus  Syedris.  "Syedra  is  mentioned  by 
Ptolemy  among;  the  maritime  towns  or  Cilieia  ;  Stephanus  calls  it  a  city  of 
Isauria,  which  is  often  confounded  with  Cilicia."  Salmasius.  Before  Sal- 
masiuB  the  reading  was pulsis  (or  pulsus)  Hedris,  which  puzzled  all  the 
editors. 

67  Damsel]  PueUa. 

81  Dislike  for  the  king,  etc.]  Odium  ips'susregis,  etc.  There  seems  to  bo 
something  wanting  in  the  text  here,  as  Fremshemius  and  Duker  observe. 


BOOK  iv.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  383 

only  with  a  small  body  of  troops,  he  withstood  the  efforts  of  a 
numerous  army.  In  the  first  place,  by  setting  fire  to  the  neigh- 
boring houses  and  dockyards,  he  kept  at  a  distance  the  darts 
of  his  eager  enemies,  and  then  suddenly  made  his  escape  to  the 
island  of  Pharos.  Being  driven  from  thence  into  the  sea,  he 
swam  off,  with  wonderful  good  fortune,  to  his  fleet  that  lay  at 
hand,  leaving  his  military  cloak  in  the  water,  whether  by 
chance,  or  with  a  view  to  its  receiving,  instead  of  himself,  the 
shower  of  darts  and  stones  hurled  by  the  enemy.  At  length 
being  taken  up  by  the  men  of  his  fleet,  and  attacking  the 
ernemy  on  all  sides  at  once,  he  made  atonement  to  the  manes 
of  his  son-in-law  by  a  conquest  of  that  perfidious  nation.  The- 
odotus  the  king's  guardian,  the  author  of  the  whole  war,  and 
Pothinus  and  Ganymede,  monsters  that  were  not  even  men, 
after  fleeing  in  various  directions  over  sea  and  land,  were  cut 
off  by  death.  The  body  of  the  king  himself  was  found  buried 
in  the  mud  of  the  river,  distinguished  by  a  golden  coat  of 
mail. 

In  Asia,  too,  there  arose  a  new  commotion  from  Pontus,  For- 
tune apparently,  and  as  it  were  purposely,  taking  this  opportu- 
nity to  terminate  the  kingdom  of  Mithridates,  that  as  the  father 
was  conquered  by  Pompey,  the  son  might  be  conquered  by 
Caesar.  King  Pharnaces,  presuming  more  on  our  dissensions 
than  on  his  own  valor,  poured  into  Cappadocia  with  an  army 
ready  for  action.  But  Ca3sar,  engaging  him,  overthrew  him  ia 
one  battle,  and  that,  as  I  may  say,  not  an  entire  one,  falling 
upon  him  like  lightning,  which,  in  one  and  the  same  moment, 
comes,  strikes,  and  is  gone.69  Nor  was  it  a  vain  boast  on  the 
part  of  Caasar,  "  that  the  enemy  was  conquered  before  he  was 
seen." 

Such  were  the  occurrences  with  foreign  enemies.  But  in 
Africa,  he  had  a  fiercer  contest  with  his  own  countrymen  than 
at  Pharsalia.  A  tide  of  civil  fury  had  driven  the  relics  of  the 

I  S9  Comes,  strikes,  and  is  gone]  Fenii,  percussit,  dbscessit.  He  uses  the  prc- 
terperfects  for  the  sake  of  greater  effect,  as  Pearce  imagined  that  Longmus 
used  the  aorists  in  sect,  i.,  v\l>o<;  61 — TO.  TE  irpuypaTa  6iKTjv  OKTITTTOV  iruv-a 
6i.£(f>6prjae,  KCLI  rfiv  rov  pTjropo^  Ivdvg  dOpoav  IvcdsiZaro  fivva.fj.iv,  which 
passage  Smith,  believing  in  Pearce,  translated,  "The  sublime — with  tho 
rapid  force  of  lightning,  lias  borne  down  all  before  it.  and  shown  at  ono 
stroke,  the  compact  might  of  genius."  Both  should  have  known  better. 
Minellius  aptly  compares  Veil.  Pat.,  ii.  7  :  Ego  vix  crediderim  tarn  mu/>/r'', 
tantamurbemjloruisse,  concidisse,  resuri-exisse.  See  Sail.,  Jug.,  c.  106,  aetiatos 

MM. 


384  FLORUS.  BOOK  iv. 

shipwrecked  party  to  this  country ;  relics,  indeed  we  should 
hardly  call  them,  but  rather  a  complete  warlike  force.  The 
strength  of  the  party  had  rather  been  separated  than  defeated. 
The  very  calamity  of  the  general  had  strengthened  the  obliga- 
tion70 of  their  military  oath ;  nor  did  the  succeeding  leaders 
show  any  degeneracy ;  for  the  names  of  Cato  and  Scipio  had  a 
sufficiently  effective  sound  in  the  room  of  that  of  Pompey.  To 
the  force  on  that  side  was  added  Juba,  king  of  Mauritania,  as  if 
that  Caesar  might  carry  his  conquests  the  further.  There  was 
therefore  no  difference  in  the  fields  of  Pharsalia  and  Thapsus, 
except  that  the  efforts  of  the  Caesarians  were  greater  and  more 
vigorous,  as  being  indignant  that  the  war  should  have  grown  up 
after  the  death  of  Pompey.  The  trumpeters  (what  had  never 
happened  before)  sounded  a  charge  of  themselves,  before  the 
general  gave  an  order  for  it.  The  overthrow  began  with  Juba, 
whose  elephants,  new  to  war,  and  lately  brought  from  the 
woods,  were  startled  at  the  sudden  noise,  and  his  army  imme- 
diately took  to  flight.  Nor  were  the  leaders  too  brave71  to  flee, 
though  the  deaths  of  them  all  were  not  inglorious.  Scipio  got 
off  in  a  ship,  but,  as  the  enemy  overtook  him,  he  thrust  his 
sword  into  his  bowels,  arid  when  some  one  asked  where  he  was, 
he  returned  this  answer,  "  The  general  is  well."  Juba,  having 
betaken  himself  to  his  palace,  and  having  banqueted  sumptu- 
ously on  the  following  day  with  Petreius,  the  companion  of  his 
flight,  offered  himself,  at  table,  in  the  midst  of  their  cups,  to  be 
killed  by  his  hand.  Petreius  slew  both  Juba  and  himself,  and 
the  half-consumed  meats,  and  funeral  dishes,72  were  mixed  with 
the  blood  of  a  king  and  a  Roman.  Cato  was  not  at  the  battle, 
but,  having  pitched  his  camp  on  the  Bagrada,  guarded  Utica, 
as  a  second  barrier  of  Africa.73  Hearing,  however,  of  the  defeat 
of  his  party,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  die,  but  even  cheerfully,  as 
became  a  wise  man,  hastened  his  own  death.  Dismissing  his 
son  and  attendants  with  an  embrace,  and  reading  in  the  night, 

70  Had  strengthened  the  obligation,  etc.]  By  exciting  them  to  avenge  hia 
death. 

'i  Nor  were  the  leaders  too  brave,  etc.]  Et  dncesfortius  qucim  utfugerent, 
etc.]  Thus  stands  the  passage  in  Duker's  edition,  and  almost  all  others, 
though  Salmasius  long  ago  substituted  nee,  and  Freinshemius,  Madame  Da- 
cier,  rerizonius,  and  Duker  himself,  admitted  thut  the  sense  demanded  the 
alteration. 

73  Funeral  dishes]  Parentalia  fercula.  Because  Petreius  and  Juba  slew 
themselves  over  them. 

73  As  a  second  barrier  of  Africa]  Velut  altera  Africa  claustra.  Thapsus 
having  been  the  other. 


ij(X>K  IT.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  385 

by  the  light  of  a  lamp,  that  book  of  Plato  which  treats 
of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  he  afterward  rested  a  while, 
but,  about  the  first  watch,  having  drawn  his  sword,  he 
pierced  his  breast,  which  he  had  uncovered  with  his  hand,  more 
than  once.  After  this  the  surgeons  would  needs  trouble  him 
with  plasters,  which  he  endured  till  they  were  gone,  and  then 
opened  the  gashes  afresh,  when  a  vast  quantity  of  blood  issuing 
forth  made  his  dying  hands  sink  on  the  wounds. 

But  as  if  there  had  hitherto  been  no  fighting,  war,  and  the 
party  of  Pompey,  arose  again ;  and  Spain  exceeded  Africa  in 
the  struggle  as  much  as  Africa  had  exceeded  Thessaly.  What 
now  attracted  great  regard  to  the  party,  was,  that  the  two  gen- 
erals were  brothers,  and  that  two  Pompeys  had  appeared 
instead  of  one.  Never,  therefore,  were  there  fiercer  encounters, 
or  with  such  dubious  success.  First  of  all,  Varus  and  Didius, 
the  lieutenant-generals,  engaged  at  the  very  mouth  of  the 
Ocean.74  But  their  vessels  had  a  harder  contest  with  the  sea, 
than  with  one  another.  For  the  Ocean,  as  if  it  would  punish 
the  discord  of  fellow-citizens,  destroyed  both  fleets  by  ship- 
wreck. What  an  awful  scene  was  it,  when  waves,  storms,  men, 
ships,  and  arms,  mingled  in  contention  at  the  same  time  !  Con- 
sider, too,  the  frightful  nature  of  the  situation  itself;  the  shores 
of  Spain,  on  the  one  side,  and  of  Mauretania  on  the  other,  clos- 
ing as  it  were  together ;  the  internal  and  external  seas,75  and 
the  pillars  of  Hercules  overhanging  them,  while  all  around 
was  agitated  with  a  battle  and  a  tempest. 

Soon  after,  they  applied  themselves,  in  various  quarters,  to 
the  sieges  of  cities,  which,  between  the  leaders  on  one  side  and 
the  other,  paid  a  severe  penalty  for  their  alliance  with  Rome. 
Of  the  battles,  the  last  was  fought  at  Munda.  Here  the  contest 
was  not  attended  with  Caesar's  previous  success,  but  was  long 
doubtful  and  threatening,  so  that  Fortune  seemed  evidently  hes- 
itating how  to  act.  Caesar,  too,  .before  the  battle,  was  more 
low-spirited  than  ordinary,  whether  from  meditating  on  the  in- 
stability of  human  things,  from  feeling  a  mistrust  of  his  long- 
continued  prosperity,  or  from  dreading  Pompey's  fate  after 
having  attained  Pompey's  station.  But  in  the  course  of  the 

74  At  the  very  month  of  the  Ocean]  In  ipso  ostio  Oceani.   Near  the  straits 
of  Gibraltar.     '"'  Not  far  from  Orantia,  as  Dion.,  lib.  xliii.,  has  it,  or  Carteia, 
Ilirtius  do  Bell.  Hispan.,  c.  32."  Freinshfmiux. 

75  The  internal  and  external  seas]  Mare  et  intestinum  et  extemum.    Tho 
.Mediterranean  sea,  within  the  strait  of  Gibraltar,  and  th«  Ocean  without  it. 

17 


386  FLORUS.  BOOK  ir. 

battle  there  occurred  an  incident,  such  as  no  man  ever  remem- 
bered to  have  heard  of  before  ;  for  when  the  two  armies,  equal 
in  fortune,  had  been  wholly  engaged  in  mutual  slaughter,  there 
happened  suddenly,  in  the  greatest  heat  of  the  combat,  a  deep 
silence,  as  if  by  common  consent,  on  both  sides.  This  was  an 
expression  of  general  feeling.70  At  last  came  the  dire  misfor- 
tune, strange  to  the  eyes  of  Caesar,  that  after  fourteen  years  of 
service,  his  tried  body  of  veterans  gave  ground.  They  did  not 
indeed  flee,  but  they  seemed  to  resist  rather  from  being  ashamed 
to  retreat  than  from  real  courage.  Springing  off  his  horse, 
therefore,  he  rushed  like  a  madman  to  the  front  of  the  battle, 
where  he  staid  and  encouraged  those  that  were  shrinking,  and 
made  his  influence  felt  through  the  whole  body  with  eye,  hand, 
and  voice.  Yet,  in  the  confusion,  he  is  said  to  have  meditated 
death,  and  to  have  shown  plainly  by  his  looks  that  he  was  in- 
clined to  hasten  his  end,  had  not  five  battalions  of  the  enemy, 
which  then  marched  across  the  field,  and  which  had  been  sent 
by  Labienus  to  defend  the  camp  that  was  in  danger,  caused  an 
appearance  of  flight.  Thus  the  crafty  general  either  believed, 
or  took  advantage  of  the  movement  to  make  it  appear ;  and,  ad- 
vancing on  the  enemy  as  if  they  were  fleeing,  he  both  raised 
the  courage  of  his  own  men,  and  damped  that  of  his  opponents. 
The  party  of  Caesar,  thinking  themselves  conquerors,  pressed 
forward  with  greater  spirit ;  that  of  Pompey,  supposing  some  on 
their  side  to  be  fleeing,  commenced  a  general  flight.  How 
great  the  slaughter  of  the  enemy  was,  and  how  great  the  rage 
and  fury  of  the  conquerors,  may  be  estimated  from  the  following 
circumstance.  The  fugitives  from  the  battle  having  taken  refuge 
in  Munda,  and  Caesar  giving  orders  that  they  should  immediately 
be  besieged,  a  rampart  was  formed  of  dead  bodies  heaped  one 
on  another,  which  were  held  together  by  being  stuck  through 
with  lances  and  javelins ;  a  spectacle  that  would  have  been  hor- 
rible even  among  barbarians. 

When  Pompey's  sons  had  lost  all  hope  of  victory,  Caesonius, 
having  overtaken  Cnreus,  who  had  fled  from  the  field  of  battle, 
and  was  making  his  way,  with  a  wound  in  his  leg,  to  some  des- 

74  T'.iis  was  an  expression  of  general  feeling]  JJlc  omnium  senxua  erat. 
"  These  words  are  a  contemptible  gloss."  Freimhemmi*.  "  I  think  other- 
wise ;  Floras  means  that  all  the  soldiers,  by  this  silence,  testified  what  they 
felt,  namely,  that  they  wished  an  end  to  be  put  to  civil  contention."  Groe- 
vius.  "  If  this  was  Florus's  meaning,  he  ought  to  have  expressed  it  rnora 
plainly,  by  adding  or  prefixing  something  to  the  words."  Duker. 


BOOK  iv.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  387 

ert  and  solitary  place,  slew  him  in  the  town  of  Lauron,  still 
fighting,  and  proving  that  his  spiiit  was  not  utterly  broken. 
Fortune,  meanwhile,  hid  Sextus  in  Celtiberia,  and  reserved  him 
for  other  wars  after  Caesar's  time. 

Caesar  returned  triumphant  to  his  native  city.  The  Rhine, 
the  Rhone,  and  the  subjugated  Ocean  formed  of  gold,  repre- 
sented his  first  triumph,  for  Gaul.  The  second  was  for  Egypt ; 
when  the  Nile,  Arsinoe,  and  the  Pharos  burning  like  fire,  were 
displayed.77  The  third  was  for  Pharnaces  and  Pontus.  The 
fourth  was  displayed  for  Juba  and  the  Moors,  and  twice-con- 
quered Spain.  But  Pharsalia,  Thapsus,  and  Munda,  were  no~ 
where  to  be  seen ;  yet  how  much  greater  were  those  actions  for 
which  he  had  no  triumph  !78 

There  was  now,  at  last,  an  end  of  hostilities.  The  peace  that 
followed  was  free  from  bloodshed,  and  atonement  was  made  for 
the  war  by  clemency.  No  one  was  put  to  death  by  Caesar's  or- 
der except  Afranius,  (it  was  enough  that  he  had  pardoned  him 
once)  and  Faustus  Sylla,  (he  had  learned  to  be  afraid  of  sons-in- 
law)79  and  the  daughter  of  Pompey  with  her  children  by  Sylla; 

77  Arsinoe — displayed]  Inferculis — Arsinoe.     Madame  Dacier  thinks  that 
by  Arsinoe  Florus  means  the  picture  of  a  city  of  that  name ;    Duker  sup> 
poses  that  lie  intends  the  portrait  of  Arsinoe,  the  sister  of  Cleopatra,  but  OCH 
serves  that  he  must  have  erred  from  not  knowing  that  Arsinoe  herself  tea* 
led  in  triumph  with  other  captives,  as  is  told  by  Dion  Cassius,  lib.  xliii. 
Ftrciilum  was  a  sort  of  frame  or  stage  on  which  things  were  carried  in  tri- 
umphal processions. 

78  For  which  he  had  no  triumph]  He  did  not  triumph  on  account  of  those 
battles,  says  Fremshemius,  because  in  them  he  had  conquered,  not  for- 
cigners,  but  his  own  countrymen.   See  iii.  22,_/f«.    "  Yet  that  the  represent- 
ations of  the  contests  at  Pharsalus  and  Thapsus,  us  we'll  as  the  portraits  ot 
the  brave  men  who  fell  in  them,  Scipio,  Cato,  and  Petreiu?,  were  carried  in  trK 
iimph,  is  stated  by  Appian,  Bell.  Civ.,  lib.  ii. ;  *  *  *  *  that  he  triumphed, 
a  fifth  time,  for  his  victory  over  the  Pompeys  at  Munda,  is  testified  both  by 
Dion  Cassius,  1.  xliii.,  and  by  Plutarch  in  his  life  of  Caesar."  Duker. 

79  And  Fanstus  Sylla,  (he'had  learned  to  be  afraid  of  sons-in-laws),  etc.] 
Et  Faustum  Sullam :  didicerat  genems  timere:  jiltamque  Pompeii  c-umpatru- 
elibus  ex  Sulla.     Under  the  term  sons-in-law  Florus  comprehends  Pprnpey 
and  Faustns  Sylla.     Ca?sar  had  learned  from  Pompey  to  dread  a  srm-in-law, 
and  he  now  dreaded  Faustus  Sylla,  who,  as  Florus   appears  to  think,  was 
his  grandsortrin-law,  by  having  married  Pompey's  daughter.     But  on  this 

'  point  Florus,  as  Grrevius  remarks,  is  in  error,  for  Julia,  Ccesar's  daughter, 
died  childless  ;  and  Fanstus  Sylla's  marriage  with  a  daughter  of  Pompey 
by  another  wife  did  not  at  all  connect  him  with  Caesar.  To  the  wordjM&V- 
i  V/,//.s'  no  eritie  has  professed  to  give  a  satisfactory  sense ;  it  admits,  indeed, 
of  no  explanation,  lor  rmtrtidis  is  a  "cousin-german,"  and  to  whom  can  we 
suppose  that  Florus  called  the  children  of  Faustus  Sylla  "  cousin-gcrmaiis  ?'' 
I  have,  therefore,  instead  of  it,  adopted  parvulis,  the  conjecture  of  Peri- 
zonius,  approved  both  by  Grajvius  and  Duker. 


388  FLORUS.  BOOK  ir. 

in  which  proceeding  regard  was  had  to  posterity.80  His  coun- 
trymen, therefore,  being  not  ungrateful,  all  kinds  of  honors  were 
conferred  on  him  as  the  sole  governor  of  the  state ;  as  statues  in 
the  temples,  a  radiant  crown  to  wear  in  the  theater,  a  raised 
seat  in  the  senate-house,  a  cupola  on  his  own  house,  and  a 
month  in  the  heavens.  He  was,  besides,  called  Father  of  his 
country,  and  Perpetual  Dictator ;  and  at  last,  whether  with  his 
own  consent  is  doubtful,  the  ensigns  of  royalty  were  offered  him 
on  the  Rostra  by  the  consul  Antony. 

But  all  these  honors  were  but  as  decorations  laid  on  a  victim 
doomed  to  die.  The  envy  of  others  overcame  the  clemency  of 
the  ruler,  and  his  very  power  of  conferring  benefits  was  insup- 
portable to  the  free.  Nor  was  long  delay  granted  him,  before 
Brutus  and  Cassius,  and  others  of  the  nobility,  conspired  to  put' 
him  to  death.  How  great  is  the  power  of  fate  !  The  knowl- 
edge of  the  conspiracy  had  spread  widely  ;  an  account  of  it,  on 
the  very  day  fixed  for  its  execution,  had  been  presented  to  Caesar 
himself;  nor  was  he  able,  when  he  sacrificed,  to  find  one  in  a 
hundred  victims  propitious.  Yet  he  ventured  into  the  senate- 
house,  meditating  an  expedition  against  the  Parthians.  Here, 
as  lie  was  sitting  in  his  curule  chair,  the  senate  fell  upon  him, 
and  he  was  struck  to  the  ground  with  three-and-twenty  wounds. 
Thus  he,  who  had  deluged  the  world  with  the  blood  of  his  coun- 
trymen, deluged  the  senate-house  at  last  with  his  own. 

CHAP.    III.       CAESAR.   AUGUSTUS. 

The  Roman  people,  when  Caesar  and  Pompey  were  killed, 
thought  that  they  had  returned  to  their  state  of  pristine  free- 
dom; and  they  would  have  returned  to  it,  had  neither  Pompey 
left  children,  nor  Ca3sar  an  heir ;  or,  what  was  worse,  had  not 
Antony,  once  the  sharer  and  afterward  the  rival  of  Caesar's 
power,  survived  to  be  the  incendiary  and  disturber  of  the  suc- 
ceeding age.  For  as  Sextus  Pompey  sought  to  recover  what 
was  his  father's,  consternation  was  spread  over  the  whole  sea ; 
as  Octavius  tried  to  revenge  his  father's  death,81  Thessaly  was 

M  Regard  was  had  to  posterity]  Posteris  cavebatur.  Lest,  if  any  offspring 
of  Sylla  should  be  left,  it  might  be  the  means  of  raising  a  new  war.  But 
Uirtius,  De  Bell,  Afric.,  c.  95,  gives  a  quite  different  account  of  the  matter, 
saying  that  Csesar  "  granted  the  daughter  of  Pompey,  and  her  children  by 
Fauatus  Sylla,  their  lives  and  all  their  property." 

Bl  Oh.  III.  His  father's  death]  The  death  of  Julius  Caesar,  his  father  by 
jtdoptioii. 


BOOK  iv.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  389 

again  to  be  disquieted;  and  as  Antony,  a  man  of  fickle  disposi- 
tion either  showed  displeasure,  that  Octavius  should  succeed 
Caesar,  or,  from  love  of  Cleopatra,  was  ready  to  degeneraite  into 
a  king,82  the  Romans  could  not  otherwise  find  safety  but  by 
taking  a  refuge  in  a  state  of  servitude.  Yet,  in  the  midst  of 
their  great  distractions,  it  was  a  source  of  congratulation  to  them 
that  the  sovereign  power  fell  into  the  hands  of  Augustus  Caesar, 
rather  than  those  of  any  other  man ;  for  he,  by  his  wisdom  and 
prudence,  reduced  to  order  the  body  of  the  empire,  which  was 
distracted  in  every  part,  and  which  doubtless,  would  never  have 
coalesced  and  harmonized  again,  had  it  not  been  regulated  by 
the  direction  of  one  president,  as  by  one  soul  and  mind. 

In  the  consulship  of  Mark  Antony  and  Publius  Dolabella, 
when  Fortune  was  proceeding  to  transfer  the  empire  to  the 
Caesars,  there  arose  various  and  manifold  convulsions  in  the 
state  ;  and,  as  it  happens  in  the  annual  revolution  of  the  heavens, 
that  the  constellations  by  their  motions  occasion  thunder,  and 
make  known  their  change  of  place  by  change  of  weather,  so,  in 
the  change  of  condition  in  the  Roman  government,  that  is,  of 
the  whole  human  race,  the  body  of  the  empire  was  shaken 
throughout,  and  distracted  with  all  kinds  of  perils,  and  civil 
wars  both  by  land  and  sea. 

CHAP.    IV.       THE    CONFLICT    AT    MUTINA. 

The  first  occasion  of  civil  commotion  was  Caesar's  will,  whose 
second  heir,83  Antony,  enraged  that  Octavius  was  preferred  be- 
fore him,  raised  a  desperate  war  to  set  aside  the  adoption  of  the 
spirited  young  man.  Seeing  that  he  was  but  a  tender  youth, 
under  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  therefore  a  fit  and  proper  sub- 
ject, as  he  thought,  for  any  ill-usage,  while  he  himself  was  of 
high  dignity  from  his  long  service  with  Caesar,  he  proceeded  to 
dismember  his  inheritance  by  clandestine  acts  of  injustice,  to 
attack  him  personally  with  opprobrious  language,  and  to  hinder, 
by  all  imaginable  artifices,  his  co-optation84  into  the  Julian 

82  "Was  ready  to  degenerate  into  a  king]  Descizcit  in  regem.   "  An  elegant 
expression,  and  agreeable  to  the  feelings  of  the  old  Romans,  to  whom  tho 
name  of  king  was  detestable."  Freinshemius. 

83  Ch.  IV.  Second  heir]  Secundv*  Tiares.     "  Camers  says  that  he  has  no- 
where else  read  this,  but  I  remember  to  have  read  it  in  Dion.  Cass.,  lib. 
xliv.    The  second  heir  is  he  who  takes  the  place  of  the  first,  should  the 
first  die  before  the  death  of  the  testator."    Finetus. 

84  Co-optation]  Oooptatnanem.    A  formal  reception  into  a  family,  in  conse- 
Bequence  of  adoption  by  a  member  of  it. 


300  FLORUS.  BOOK  iv. 

family.  At  last,  to  crush  the  young  man  entirely,  he  openly  took 
up  arms  against  him,  and  having  got  an  army  in  Cisalpine 
Gaul,  besieged  Decimus  Brutus,  who  opposed  his  movements, 
in  Mutina ;  but  Octavius  Caesar,  recommended  to  public  favor 
by  his  age  and  injuries,  and  by  the  greatness  of  the  name  which 
he  had  assumed.,  recalled  the  veterans  to  arms,  and,  though  but 
a  private  person,  engaged  (who  would  believe  it  ?)  with  a  con- 
sul. He  relieved  Brutus  from  the  siege  at  Mutina,  and  drove 
Antony  from  his  camp.  On  that  occasion,  too,  he  behaved 
gallantly  in  action ;  for,  wounded  and  covered  with  blood,  he 
carried  back  an  eagle,  which  had  been  committed  to  him  by  a 
dying  standard-bearer,  upon  his  shoulder  into  the  camp. 

CHAP.    V.       THE    SIEGE    OF    PEIUJSIA. 

The  distribution  of  lands  among  the  soldiers  occasioned 
another  war ;  lands  which  Caesar  assigned  the  veterans  in  his 
army  as  the  reward  of  their  service.  Fulvia,  the  wife  of  Antony, 
girt  with  a  sword  in  the  field  like  a  man,  stimulated  Antony's 
mind,  which  otherwise  was  always  sufficiently  ill-disposed,  to  ac- 
tion. By  rousing  the  husbandmen,  therefore,  who  had  been 
driven  from  their  lands,  lie  produced  another  war.  Caesar  now 
attacked  him  as  one  adjudged  an  enemy,  not  by  private  opinion, 
but  by  the  suffrages  of  the  whole  senate,  shut  him  up  within 
the  walls  of  Perusia,  and,  by  means  of  a  wretched  famine, 
that  had  recourse  to  every  expedient,  forced  him  at  last  to  a 
surrender. 

CHAP.    VI.        THE    TRIUMVIRATE. 

When  Antony,  even  alone,  was  a  hinderance  to  the  public 
quiet,  and  a  trouble  to  the  state,  Lepidus  was  joined  with  him, 
as  one  fire  to  another.  What  could  Caesar  then  do"  against 
two  armies  ?  lie  was  necessitated  to  join  in  a  most  cruel  league 
with  their  leaders.  The  views  of  all  the  three  were  different. 
The  desire  of  wealth,  of  which  there  was  a  fair  prospect  from  a 
disturbance  of  the  state,  animated  Lepidus ;  the  hope  of  taking 
vengeance  on  those  who  had  declared  him  an  enemy,  instigated 
Antony ;  the  death  of  his  father  unavenged,  while  Cassius  and 
Brutus  lived  offensive  to  his  manes,  actuated  Caesar.  With  a. 
view  to  a  confederacy  for  these  objects,  a  peace  was  made 

85  Ch.  VI.  What  could  Csesar  then  do,  etc.]  The  word  Cozsar  is  wanting 
in  the  text,  but  Graevius  shows  the  necessity  of  adopting  it. 


BOOK  IV.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  391 

among  the  three  generals.  At  Confluentes,80  between  Perusia 
and  Bononia,  they  joined  hands,  and  the  armies  saluted  each 
other.  After  no  good  precedent,87  a  Triumvirate  was  estab- 
lished ;  and  the  state  being  subjugated  by  force  of  arms,  the 
proscription,  first  introduced  by  Sylla,  was  revived.  Its  fury 
embraced  no  fewer  than  a  hundred  and  forty  senators.  The 
deaths  of  many,  who  fled  into  all  parts  of  the  world,  were 
shocking,  cruel,  and  mournful ;  such  indeed,  as  no  one  can  suf- 
ficiently lament.  Antony  proscribed  Lucius  Caesar,  his  own  > 
uncle ;  Lepidus,  Lucius  Paulus,  his  own  brother.  It  was  now  a 
common  practice  to  expose  the  heads  of  such  as  had  been  killed, 
on  the  Rostra  at  Rome  ;  but,  though  such  was  the  case,  the  city 
could  not  refrain  from  tears,  when  the  head  of  Cicero,  severed 
from  his  body,  was  seen  on  that  very  Rostra  which  he  had  made 
his  own ;  nor  was  there  a  less  concourse  to  see  him  there  than 
there  had  formerly  been  to  hear  him.  These  atrocities  pro- 
ceeded from  the  lists  of  Antony  and  Lepidus.  Caesar  was  con- 
tent with  proscribing  the  assassins  of  his  father  ;  the  deaths  of 
whom,  had  they  been  less  numerous,  might  have  been  thought 
just. 

CHAP.    VII.       THE    WAR    RAISED    BY    CASSIUS    AND    BRUTUS. 

Brutus  and  Cassius  seemed  to  have  cast  Csesar,  like  another 
king  Tarquin,  from  the  sovereignty  ;  but  the  liberty,  which  by 
his  assassination  they  had  hoped  to  restore,  they  entirely  lost. 
After  the  murder  was  committed,  they  fled  from  the  senate- 
house  to  the  Capitol,  being  afraid,  and  not  without  reason,  of 
Caesar's  veterans,  who  did  not  want  inclination  to  avenge  his 
death,  but  had  no  leader.  As  it  appeared,  however,  that  desola- 
tion threatened  the  commonwealth,  vengeance  was  not  then 
thought  proper88  to  be  pursued. 

But,  to  escape  the  eye  of  the  public  grief,  Brutus  and 
Cassius  withdrew  into  Syria  and  Macedonia,  the  very  province 
assigned  them  by  the  Csesar  whom  they  had  slain.  Vengeance 
for  Caesar  was  thus  delayed  rather  than  smothered.  The  govern- 

"«  Confluentes]  At  the  confluence  of  the  Moselle  and  the  Ehine,  now 
Coblentz. 

87  After  no  pood  precedent  ~\Nullo  bono  more.    "  In  allusion  to  the  pre- 
ceding triumvirate  of  Caesar,  rompey,  and  Crassus."  Dulcer. 

88  Ch.  VII.  Vengeance  was  not  then  thought  proper,  etc.]  Displicuit  uUio. 
After  these  words  follow  cum  consulis  abolitione  decreta,  of  which,  according 
to  the  unanimous  toice  of  the  commentators,  no  sense  can  be  made,  and 
which  I  have  consequently  omitted. 


392  PLORUS.  BOOK  iv. 

ment  being  regulated,  therefore,  rather  as  it  was  possible  than 
as  it  was  requisite,  by  the  Triumviri,  and  Lepidus  being  left  to 
guard  the  city,  Caesar,  accompanied  by  Antony,  prepared  for  a 
war  against  Cassius  and  Brutus,  who,  having  collected  a  vast 
force,  had  taken  post  on  the  same  ground  that  had  been  fatal  to 
Cnseus  Pompey.  But  evident  omens  of  destined  calamity  were 
observed  on  this  occasion.  Birds,  accustomed  to  feed  on  dead 
bodies,  flew  around  the  camp  as  if  it  were  already  their  own. 
An  Ethiopian  meeting  the  troops,  as  they  were  proceeding  to 
the  field  of  battle,  was  too  plainly  a  dismal  sign.  Some  black 
phantom,  too,  appeared  to  Brutus  in  the  night,  when  he  was 
meditating,  after  his  custom,  with  a  lamp  by  his  side,  and,  being 
asked  what  it  was,  replied,  "  Thy  evil  Genius."  Thus  it  spoke, 
and  vanished  from  his  eyes  while  he  was  wondering  at  its 
appearance. 

In  Caesar's  camp  the  birds  and  victims  gave  predictions  with 
equal  significance,  but  all  for  the  better.  Nothing,  however,  was 
more  remarkable,  than  that  Caesar's  physician  was  admonished 
in  a  dream,  that  "  Caesar  should  quit  his  camp,  which  was  des- 
tined to  be  taken,"  as  afterward  happened.  For  when  the  battle 
had  commenced,  and  both  sides  had  fought  for  some  time  with 
equal  spirit  (though  the  leaders  were  not  present,  one  of  whom 
sickness,  and  the  other  fear  and  indolence,89  had  detained  from 
the  field,  yet  the  invincible  fortune,  both  of  the  avenger  and  the 
avenged,  supported  the  party,  the  danger  being  at  first  equally 
threatening  to  either  side,  as  indeed  the  event  of  the  conflict 
showed),  the  Camp  of  Caesar  was  taken  on  the  one  side,  and 
that  of  Cassius  on  the  other.  But  how  much  more  powerful  is 
fortune  than  conduct,  and  how  true  is  that  which  Brutus 
said  when  he  was  dying,  that  "Virtue  existed  not  in  reality, 
but  merely  in  name  !"S(1  A  mistake  settled  the  victory  in  this 
battle.  Cassius,  at  a  time  when  one  of  his  wings  was  giving 
way,  observing  his  cavalry,  after  having  surprised  Caesar's 
camp,  coming  back  at  full  speed,  imagined  that  they  were 

«9  Fear  and  indolence]  Metus  et  ignavia.  That  Antony  was  thus  kept 
from  the  field,  seems  to  DC  ft  gratuitous  assertion  on  the  part  of  Floras. 
Plutarch  merely  observes  that  "  some  said  Antony  was  absent  from  the 
battle,  and  did  not  arrive  in  the  field  till  his  men  were  in  pursuit  of  the 
enemy."  Vit.  Ant.,  c.  28.  See  also  Vit.  Brut.,  c.  61.  No  other  authority 
is  adduced  on  the  subject. 

•«  Virtue  existed — merely  in  name]  This  saying  of  Brutus  is  wholly  inap- 
plicable here.  Florus  first  uses  virtus  in  a  military  s«nse,  (for  conduot  or 
ability),  and  then  confounds  with  it  -virtus  in  a  moral  sense. 


BOOK  iv.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  393 

fleeing,  and  withdrew  to  a  neighboring  hill,  where  the  dust  and 
confusion,  with  the  approach  of  night,  obstructing  his  view  of 
the  action,  and  a  scout,  whom  he  sent  for  the  purpose,  being 
slow  in  bringing  intelligence,  he  concluded  that  his  party  was 
utterly  defeated,  and  caused  one  of  his  followers  to  strike  off  his 
head. 

Brutus,  haying  lost  his  very  soul  in  Cassius,  and  being  re- 
solved to  adhere  strictly  to  their  compact,  (for  they  had  agreed 
that  both  should  survive  the  battle,  or  neither),91  presented  his 
side  to  one  of  his  attendants,  that  he  might  run  him  through 
with  his  sword. 

Who  can  not  but  wonder,  that  these  wisest  of  men  did  not 
use  their  own  hands  to  dispatch  themselves  ?  But  perhaps  this 
was  avoided  from  principle,94  that  they  might  not,  in  releasing 
their  most  pure  and  pious  souls,  stain  their  own  hands,  but, 
while  they  used  their  own  judgment,  might  allow  the  crime  of 
the  execution  to  be  another's. 

CHAP.    VIII.        THE    WAR    WITH    SEXTUS    POMPEY. 

Though  the  assassins  of  Ciesar  were  cut  off,  the  house  of 
Pompey  was  yet  left.  One  of  the  young  men,  his  sons,  had 
fallen  in  Spain  ;  but  the  other  had  escaped  by  flight,  and, 
having  collected  the  relics  of  the  unhappy  war,  and  armed  a 
body  of  slaves,  kept  possession  of  Sicily  and  Sardinia.  He  had 
now  also  covered  the  sea  with  a  fleet.  But  how  different  was 
he  from  his  father !  The  one  had  suppressed  the  Cilician 
pirates ;  the  other  carried  pirates  in  his  own  vessels.  This 
youth  was  entirely  overpowered,  in  the  Strait  of  Messina, 
with  a  vastly  superior  force  ;93  and,  had  he  attempted  nothing 
afterward,  would  have  carried  with  him  to  the  grave  the  repu' 
tat  ion  of  a  great  commander.  But  it  is  the  mark  of  a  great 
genius  to  hope  always.  After  his  defeat  he  fled,  and  sailed  to 

81  Both  should  survive  the  battle,  or  neither]  Ita  enimpar  superetse  betto 
convenerat.    Of  these  words,  from  which  the  critics  extract  no  satisfactory 
sense,  I  have  borrowed  Clarke's  translation.     Freinshemius  seems  to  offfcV 
the  best  emendation:  Ita  enim  super  isto  bello  convenerat.    "  Quid  sibi  velit 
hicjtwr,"  says  Salmasius,  "non  video." 

82  From  principle]  Ex  persuasione.     "  The  word  persuasio  is  also  applied 
to  the  sentiments  and  principles  of  philosophers  by  Quintilian,   xii.  2." 
Dul-er.     The  sentiment  at  the  conclusion  of  this  chapter  is,  as  Salrnasius 
sars,  sufficiently  turgid. 

•»  Ch.  VIII.  "With  a  vastly  superior  force]  Tantdmole.  The  tantd  is  evi- 
dently corrupt.  Tollius  conjectures  tandem  totd  male. 

17* 


394  FLORUS.  BOOK  iv. 

Asia,  where  he  was  destined  to  fall  into  the  hands  and  fetters 
of  enemies,  and,  what  is  most  intolerable  to  the  brave,  to  die  by 
the  sentence  of  his  foes  under  the  ax  of  the  executioner. 
There  never  was  a  more  wretched  flight  since  that  of  Xer.xe  ••. 
For  he  who,  a  short  time  before,  was  master  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty  ships,  fled  with  only  six  or  seven,  putting  out  the 
light  of  his  own  vessel,  casting  his  rings  into  the  sea,"'  and 
looking  anxiously  behind  him,  yet  not  afraid  that  he  sliould 
perish." 

CHAP.    IX.       THE    PARTHIAN   WAR,    UNDER   VSNTIDIUS. 

Although  Caesar,  by  defeating  Cassius  and  Brutus,  had 
disabled  their  party,  and,  by  cutting  off  Pompey,  had  extirpated 
its  very  name,  yet  he  could  not  succeed  in  establishing  peace 
as  long  as  that  rock,  knot,  and  obstacle98  to  the  public  tran- 
quillity, Antony,  remained  alive.  He  himself,  indeed,  by  reason 
of  his  vices,  was.  not  wanting  to  his  own  destruction ;  but  by 
indulging,  from  ambition  and  luxury,  in  every  irregular  course, 
he  first  freed  our  enemies,  then  his  own  countrymen,  and  lastly 
the  age  in  which  he  lived,  from  the  dread  of  him. 

The  Parthians,  on  the  overthrow  of  Crassus,  had  assumed 
greater  courage,  and  had  heard  with  joy  of  the  civil  discords 
among  the  Romans.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  an  opportunity 
showed  itself,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  rise  in  arms,  especially  as 
Labienus  earnestly  incited  them,  who,  having  been  sent  thither 
by  Brutus  and  Cassius,  such  is  the  madness  of  civil  discord, 
had  solicited  the  enemies  of  Rome  to  assist  them.  The  Par- 
thians,  under  the  conduct  of  Pacorus,  a  youth  of  the  royal 
family,  expelled  the  garrisons  of  Antony.  Saxa,  Antony's 
lieutenant-general,  owed  it  to  his  sword  that  ho  did  not  fall  into 
their  hands.  At  length,  Syria  being  taken  from  us,  the  evil  ex- 

84  Casting  his  rings  into  the  sea]  Annulis  in  marc  dbjefti*.     What  rings 
are  meant,  is  a  point  of  dispute.     Madame  Dacier  and  Duker  think  that 
they  are  the  rings  Scxtus  Pompey  wore  on  his  fingers,  and  which  he  threw 
away  that  he  might  not  bs  known  by  them.    Rupertus  supposes  that  they 
were  the  fetters  worn  by  the  rowers  who  were  the  slaves  of  Pompey  (fettera 
being  called  rings  by  Martial.  Epig.,  ii.  29,  xi.  38),  and  which  were  thrown 
away  that  they  might  make  less  noise ;  a  supposition  much  less  probable 
than  the  other. 

85  Not  afraid  that  he  should  perish]  Non  Omens  ne  periret.     "  Here  I  ac- 
cept the  interpretation  of  Rupertus,  who  says  that  Sextus  Pompey  had 
hopes  of  safety  from  Antony."    Duker. 

"•  Ch.  IX.  Knot  and  obstacle]  Nodm  etmora.  "  In  imitation  of  Virgil, 
-£!n.,  x.  428  :  Pugn<&  nodiumque  maramque?'1  Freinshemius. 


J::,OK  iv.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  395 

tended  itself  more  widely,  as  the  enemy,  under  pretense  of  aid- 
ing others,  were  conquering  for  themselves,  and  would  have 
continued  to  conquer  had  not  Ventidius,  also  a  lieutenant-general 
of  Antony,  overthrown,  with  incredible  good  fortune,  not  only  the 
forces  of  Labienus,  but  Pacorus  himself,  and  all  the  Parthian 
cavalry,  along  the  whole  plain  between  the  Orontesand  Euphrates. 
The  slain  amounted  to  more  than  twenty  thousand.97  Nor  was 
this  effected  without  stratagem  on  the  part  of  the  general,  who, 
pretending  fear,  suffered  the  enemy  to  come  so  close  in  our  camp> 
that,  by  depriving  them  of  room  for  discharging  their  arrows^ 
lie  rendered  them  useless.  The  prince  fell  fighting  with  great 
bravery ;  and  his  head  being  carried  about  through  the  cities 
which  had  revolted,  Syria  was  soon  recovered  without  further 
war.  Thus  by  the  slaughter  of  Pacorus  we  made  compensation 
for  the  overthrow  of  Crassus. 

CHAP.    X.       THE    WAR    OF    ANTONY    WITH    THE    PARTHIANS. 

After  the  Parthians  and  Romans  had  made  trial  of  one 
another,  and  Crassus  and  Pacorus  had  given  proof  of  their 
mutual  strength,  their  former  friendship  was  renewed  with  ex- 
pressions of  equal  regard  on  either  side,  and  a  treaty  with,  the 
king  was  concluded  by  Antony  himself.  But  such  was  the 
excessive  vanity  of  the  man,  that  being  desirous,  from  a  love  of 
distinction,  to  have  Araxes  and  Euphrates  read  under  his  statues, 
he  suddenly  quitted  Syria,  and  made  an  inroad  on  those  very 
Parthians,  and  that  without  any  cause  or  reason,  or  even  pre- 
tended proclamation  of  war,  as  if  it  were  among  a  general's 
accomplishments  to  surprise  people  by  stealth.  The  Parthians, 
who,  besides  having  confidence  in  their  arms,  are  crafty  and 
subtle,  pretended  to  be  alarmed,  and  to  retreat  across  the  plains. 
Antony,  as  if  already  victorious,  instantly  pursued,  when  sud- 
denly a  body  of  the  enemy,  not  very  numerous,  rushed  suddenly 
forth,  like  a  storm  of  rain,  upon  the  Romans,  who,  as  it  was 
evening,  were  tired  with  the  day's  inarch.  Discharging  their 
arrows  from  all  sides,  they  overwhelmed  two  legions.  But  this 
was  nothing  in  comparison  with  the  destruction  that  would  have 
met  them  on  the  following  day,  had  not  the  mercy  of  the  gods 

07  More  than  twenty  thousand]  Viginti  ampl'ws  millium  fuit.  "  The  au- 
thor is  obscure,"  as  Duker  remarks,  "  from  excess  of  brevity,"  for  he  leave* 
it  uncertain  whether  the  slaughter  was  of  the  cavalry  or  of  the  whole  army. 
I  have  followed  the  interpretation  of  Faber. 


396  PLORUS.  BOOK  iv. 

interposed.  One  of  the  Romans  who  had  survived  the  overthrow 
of  Crassus,  rode  up  to  the  camp  in  a  Parthian  dress,  and  having 
saluted  the  soldiers  in  Latin,  and  thus  gained  credit  with  them, 
told  them  of  the  danger  which  threatened  them :  saying,  that 
"  the  king  would  soon  come  up  with  all  his  forces ;  that  they 
ought  therefore  to  retreat,  and  take  shelter  in  the  mountains ; 
and  that  possibly,  even  if  they  did  so,  enemies  would  not  he 
wanting."  In  consequence,  a  smaller  number  of  enemies  over- 
took them  than  had  been  intended.  Overtake  them,  however, 
they  did ;  and  the  rest  of  the  army  would  have  heen  destroyed, 
had  not  the  soldiers,  while  the  arrows  were  falling  on  them  like 
hail,  fortunately  sunk  down,  as  if  they  had  been  taught,  upon 
their  knees,  holding  up  their  shields  above  their  heads,  and 
making  it  appear  as  if  they  were  killed.  The  Parthians  then 
refrained  from  shooting.  When  the  Romans  afterward  rose  up, 
the  proceeding  appeared  so  like  a  mirac-le,  that  one  of  the  bar- 
barians exclaimed,  "  Go,  and  fare  you  well,  Romans ;  fame 
deservedly  speaks  of  you  as  the  conquerors  of  nations,  since  you 
have  escaped  death  from  the  arrows  of  the  Parthians."  After 
this,  there  was  no  less  endured  from  want  of  water,  than  at  the 
hands  of  the  enemy.  The  country,  in  the  first  place,  was  deadly 
from  its  drought ;  the  river,  too,  with  its  brackish  and  bitter 
water,08  was  more  deadly  to  some ;  and  beside,  even  good  water 
was  pernicious  to  many,  being  drunk  greedily  when  they  were 
in  a  weak  condition.  Subsequently  the  heat  of  Armenia,  the 
snows  of  Cappadocia,  and  the  sudden  change  in  climate  from 
one  to  the  other,  was  as  destructive  as  a  pestilence.  Scarce  the 
third  part,  therefore,  of  sixteen  legions  being  left,  and  his  silver 
being  every  where  cut  up  with  hatchets,98  the  excellent  general, 
begging  death,  from  time  to  time,  at  the  hands  of  a  gladiator 
of  his,  escaped  at  last  into  Syria,  where,  by  some  unaccountable 


08  Ch.  X.  With  its  brackish  and  bitter  water]  Salinacidis,  sc.  aquis,  ac- 
cording to  Sahnasius,  whom  Grseviua  and  Duker  follow.  A  word  com- 
pounded of  salinus  (for  salnus)  and  acidus.  Others  write  the  word  salma- 
cidus,  as  in  Plin.  H.  N.,  xxxi.  3,  22 ;  but  Salmasius's  method  appears  the 
better. 

89  And  his  silver  being  every  where  cut  up  with  hatchets]  Quttm  argentinn 
ejus passim  dolabris  concideretur.  This  was  done,  according:  to  Plutarch,  by 
Antony's  own  soldiers,  during  a  riot.  "  Those  who  were  known  to  be 
possessed  of  gold  or  silver  were  slain  and  plundered,  and  the  money  con- 
veyed in  the  baggage  was  carried  off.  Last  of  all  his  [Antony's]  own  baggage 
was  seized,  and  the  richest  bowls  and  tables  were  cut  asunder  and  divided 
among  the  pillagers."  Life  of  Antony,  c.  64.  Langhorne's  Translation. 


BOOK  iv.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN"  HISTORY.  397 

perversion  of  mind,  he  grew  considerably  more  presuming  than 
before,  as  if  he  had  conquered  because  he  had  escaped. 

CHAP.  XI.   THE  WAR  WITH  ANTONY  AND  CLEOPATRA. 

The  madness  of  Antony,  which  could  not  be  allayed  by  am- 
bition, was  at  last  terminated  by  luxury  and  licentiousness. 
After  his  expedition  against  the  Parthians,  while  he  was  dis- 
gusted with  war  and  lived  at  ease,  he  fell  in  love  with  Cleo- 
patra, and,  as  if  his  affairs  were  quite  prosperous,  enjoyed  him- 
self in  the  queen's  embraces. 

This  Egyptian  woman  demanded  of  the  drunken  general,  as 
the  price  of  her  favors,  nothing  less  than  the  Roman  empire. 
This  Antony  promised  her  ;  as  though  the  Romans  had  been 
easier  to  conquer  than  the  Parthians.  He,  therefore,  aspired 
to  sovereignty,  and  not  indeed  covertly,  but  forgetting  his 
country,  name,  toga,  and  fasces,  and  degenerating  wholly,  in 
thought,  feeling,  and  dress,  into  a  monster.1  In  his  hand  there 
was  a  golden  scepter  ;  a  ciinetar  by  his  side  ;  his  robe  was  of 
purple,  clasped  with  enormous  jewels  ;  and  he  wore  a  diadem, 
that  he  might  dally  with  the  queen  as  a  king. 

At  the  first  report  of  his  new  proceedings,  Caesar  had  crossed 
the  sea  from  Brundusium  to  meet  the  approaching  war.  Hav- 
ing pitched  his  camp  in  Epirus,  he  beset  the  island  of  Leucas, 
Mount  Leucate,  and  the  horns  of  the  Ambracian  Gulf,  with  a 
powerful  fleet.  We  had  more  than  four  hundred  vessels,  the 
enemy  about  two  hundred,  but  their  bulk  made  amends  for 
their  inferiority  in  number ;  for,  having  from  six  banks  of 
oars  to  nine,  and  being  mounted  with  towers  and  high  decks, 
they  moved  along  like  castles  and  cities,  while  the  sea  groaned 
and  the  winds  were  fatigued.  Yet  their  magnitude  was  their 
destruction.  Caesar's  vessels  rose  from  three  banks  of  oars  to 
not  more  than  six,  and  being,  therefore,  ready  for  all  that 
necessity  required,  whether  for  charging,  retreating,  or  wheel- 
ing round,  they  attacked,  several  at  once,  each  of  those  heavy 
vessels,  too  unwieldy  for  any  kind  of  contest,  as  Avell  with  mis- 
sile weapons,  as  with  their  beaks,  and  firebrands  hurled  into 
them,  and  dispersed  them  at  their  pleasure.  Nor  was  the 
greatness  of  the  enemy's  force  shown  by  any  thing  so  much  as 

1  Ch.  XI.  Into  a  monster]  In  ittud  monstrum.  That  is,  into  that  monster 
of  a  icing,  such  as  he  is  afterward  described.  See  note  on  deaciactt  in 
regem,  c.  3. 


.'508  FLOHUft.  BOOK  iv. 

by  what  occurred  after  (lie  victory.  The  vast  fleet,  being  shal- 
tcred  in  the  engagement,  spread  the  spoils  of  the  Arabians  and 
Sabaeaus,  and  a  thousand  other  nations  of  Asia,  over  the  whole 
face  of  the  deep.  The  waves,  driven  onward  by  the  winds, 
were  continually  throwing  up  purple  and  gold  on  the  shore. 
The  queen,  commencing  the  flight,  made  off  into  the  open  sea 
with  her  gilded  vessel  and  sails  of  purple.  Antony  imme- 
diately followed. 

But  Caesar  pursued  hard  on  their  track.  Neither  their 
preparations,  therefore,  for  flight  into  the  Ocean,2  nor  the  se- 
curing of  the  two  horns  of  Egypt,  Paraetonium  and  Pelusium, 
with  garrisons,  were  of  the  least  profit  to  them.  They  were 
almost  caught  by  Caesar's  own  hand.  Antony  was  the  first 
to  use  his  sword  against  himself.  Ihe  queen,  falling  at  the 
feet  of  Caesar,  tempted  his  eyes  in  vain  ;  for  her  charms  were 
too  weak  to  overcome  the  prince's  continence.  Her  suit  was 
not  for  life,  which  was  offered  her,  but  for  a  portion  of  the 
kingdom.  Despairing  of  obtaining  this  from  Caesar,  and  see- 
ing that  she  was  reserved  for  his  triumph,  she  took  advantage 
of  the  negligence  of  her  guard,  and  Avithdrew  herself  into  a 
mausoleum,  a  name  which  they  give  to  the  sepulchers  of  their 
kings.3  Having  there  put  on  her  best  apparel,  as  she  used  to 
be  dressed,  she  placed  herself  by  her  dear  Antony  in  a  coffin4 
filled  with  rich  perfumes,  and,  applying  serpents  to  her  veins, 
died  a  death  resembling  sleep. 

CHAP.    XII.      WARS    WITH    FOREIGN    NATIONS. 

This  was  the  termination  of  the  civil  wars.  Those  which 
followed  were  with  foreign  nations,  and  started  up  in  various 
parts  of  the  Avorld  while  the  empire  was  distracted  with  its 
own  troubles.  Peace  was  new ;  and  the  swelling  and  proud 
necks  of  the  nations  not  yet  accustomed  to  the  curb  of  bond- 

*  Preparations — for  flight  into  the  Ocean]  Praeparata  in  Oceamimfuga. 
Florus  alludes  to  the  project  of  Cleopatra,  to  draw  her -vessels  over  the 
Isthmus  of  Suez  from  the  Mediterranean  into  the  Bed  Sea,  and  to  flee  to 
some  more  remote  country.     Sec  Plutarch,  Vit.  Anton.,  c.  89.  1 

s  A  name  which  they  give  to  the  sepulchers  of  their  kings]  Sepulchra 
reyuin  sia  vacant.  Salm'asius  and  Freinshemius  would  eject  these  words,  us 
a  mere  intruded  gloss. 

*  In  a  coffin]  In  solio.     "  Soliurn  is  here  put  for  the  loculus  (coffin)  in 
which  dead  bodies  were  buried;  as  in  Plin.  H.  N.,  xxxv.  12;  Q.  Curt.,  x. 
1,  32."  FremsJiemms.     Also  Suet.  Ner.,  c.  50:   tiolium  Porphyretici  mar- 
moris 


1300K  iv  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  399 

age,  ivcoiK'il  from  (lie  yoke  thai  h;:d  IKVII  but  recently  im- 
posed upon  them.  The  part  of  the  world  lying  to  the  uorlli, 
peopled  by  the  Norici,  Illyrians,  Pannonians,  Dalmatians,  My- 
sians,  Thracians,  Dacians,  Sarmatians,  and  Germans,  was  in 
general  the  most  violent.  The  Alps  and  their  snows,  to  which 
they  thought  that  war  could  not  reach,  gaye  confidence  to  the 
Norici;  but  Caesar,  with  the  aid  of  his  step-son,  Claudius 
Drusus,  subjugated  all  the  people  of  those  regions,  the  Brenni, 
Senones,  and  Vindelici.  How  savage  these  nations  were,5  their 
women  plainly  proved,  for,  when  weapons  failed,  they  threw 
their  very  infants,  after  having  dashed  them  on  the  ground,  in. 
the  faces  of  the  soldiers. 

The  Illyrians  lie  at  the  foot  of  the  Alps,  and  guard  their 
deep  valleys,  which  are  a  sort  of  barriers6  of  defense  to  them, 
surrounded  by  precipitous  torrents.  Against  this  people  Caesar 
himself  undertook  an  expedition,  and  ordered  bridges  to  bo 
constructed  in  order  to  reach  them.  Here  the  waters  and  the 
enemy7  throwing  his  men  into  some  confusion,  he  snatched  a 
shield  from  a  soldier  hesitating  to  mount  a  bridge,  and  was  the 
first  to  march  across ;  and  when  the  army  had  followed,  and 
the  Illyrians,  from  their  numbers,  had  broken  down  the  bridge, 
he,  wounded  in  his  hands  and  legs,  and  appearing  more  comely 
in  blood  and  more  majestic  in  danger,8  did  great  execution  on 
the  enemy's  rear. 

The  Pannonians  were  defended  by  two  forests,  as  well  as  by 
three  rivers,  the  Drave,  the  Save,  and  the  Ister.  After  laying 
waste  the  lands  of  their  neighbors,  they  had  withdrawn  them- 
selves within  the  banks  of  the  streams.  To  reduce  them,  he 
dispatched  Vibius,  and  they  were  cut  to  pieces  along  both  the 
rivers.9  The  arms  of  the  conquered  were  not  burned,  accord- 

6  Ch.  XII.  How  savage  these  nations  were]   Quce  fuerit  callidarum  genti- 
um feritas.    The  word  cattidarum,  with  which  none  of  the  critics  are  satis- 
fied, I  have  omitted.    Sulmasius  conjectures  Alpicamm;  Kic.   Heinsius 

Validarum. 
«  A  sort  of  barriers]  Et  qucedam  quasi  claiistra.    I  read  «<,  with  Grater. 

7  Here  the  waters  and  the  enemy  >  etc.]  Hicse  etaquis  et  Itoste  tvrbantib-us. 
"  I  can  not  see  the  propriety  of  the  pronoun  se,  and  could  wish  it  were 
absent.    *    *    *    But  if  for  se  were  substituted  suos,  there  would  be  no 
obscurity."  Duker. 

8  More  comely  in  blood  and  more  majestic  in  danger]  Speciosiw  sanguine, 
et  ipsopericuloauqmtior. 

9  Along  both  tlie  rivers]  In  utrisqve  fluminibits.     TTtree  rivers  fire  men- 
tioned above,  tnbmi'Jhniu.  Draw,  Saw,  Histroque.    But  Histro  is  not  found 
in  ail  the  manuscripts,  and  Salmasius  would  therefore  read  -fl/urnis,  Draw 
8avoqut,  omitting  tribus.    Perizonius  conjectures  satit  acrilus  fluuiis,  Draw 
Savoque. 


400  FLORUS.  BOOK  ir. 

ing  to  the  usage  of  war,  but  were  gathered  up,  and  thrown  into 
the  rivers,  that  the  news  of  the  victory  might  thus  be  conveyed 
to  those  who  still  held  out. 

The  Dalmatians  live  for  the  most  part  in  woods,  whence 
they  boldly  sally  out  to  commit  robberies.  This  people  Man-ins 
had  before,  as  it  were,  deprived  of  a  head,  by  burning  their 
city  Delminium.  Afterward  Asinius  Pollio,  he  that  was  the 
second  orator  in  Rome,10  deprived  them  of  their  flocks,  arms, 
and  lands.  But  Augustus  committed  the  final  subjugation  of 
them  to  Vibius,  who  forced  the  savages  to  dig  the  earth,  and 
collect  the  gold  from  its  veins,  for  which  this  nation,  naturally 
the  most  covetous  of  all  people,  seeks  with  care  and  industry, 
so  that  they  appear  to  hoard  it  for  their  own  purposes. 

To  describe  how  cruel  and  inhuman  the  Mysians  are,  and 
how  much  the  most  barbarous  of  all  barbarians,  would  be  a 
horrid  task.  One  of  their  leaders,  calling  for  silence  in  front 
of  the  army,  exclaimed,  "  Who  are  you  ?"  The  answer  re- 
turned was,  "  The  Romans,  lords  of  all  nations."  "  So  you  may 
be,"  they  retorted,  "  if  you  conquer  us."  Marcus  Crassus  took 
their  words  for  an  omen.  They,  having  straightway  offered  up 
a  horse  before  their  lines,  made  a  vow  that  "  they  would  sacri- 
fice, and  eat,  the  bowels  of  the  Roman  generals  that  they 
should  kill."  I  could  suppose  that  the  gods  heard  them,  for 
they  could  not  endure  even  the  sound  of  our  trumpets.  Domi- 
tius,  a  centurion,  a  man  of  stolidity  sufficiently  barbarous,  yet 
effective  against  men  like  himself,  struck  the  savages  with  no 
small  terror,  by  mounting  a  pan  of  coals  upon  his  helmet,  and 
shedding  from  his  head,  which  appeared  on  fire,  a  flame  ex- 
cited by  the  motion  of  his  body. 

Before  these  the  people  of  Thrace'1  had  revolted.  These 
barbarians  had  been  accustomed  to  the  military  standards, 
discipline,  and  arms  of  the  Romans.  But  being  subdued  by 
Piso,  they  showed  their  violent  spirit  even  in  captivity,  at- 

10  He  that  was  the  second  orator  in  Home]   Hie  secundve  orator.    "I 
know  not  what  these  words  mean,  unless  it  be  that  Pollio  was  seeond  to 
Cicero.     I  would  rather  read  facundus  ;    *    *    *    but,  to  say  the  truth,  I 
am  inclined  to  think  the  words  a  mere  gloss,  which  somebody  had  written 
in  the  margin  of  his  copy,  as  his  own  designation  of  Pollio."  Frein/ihemius. 
Vinetus,   Isaac  Vossius,  Madame  Dacier,  Tollius,  and  Duker,  are  of  the 
same  opinion. 

11  The  people  of  Thrace]    Thracum  maxime  populi/s.    I  have  omitted 
maxime,  as  unintelligible.     Madame  Dacier  and  Gra;vius  would  read  «wm- 


BOOK  IT.  KPITOMK  OF  ROM  AX  HISTORY.  4<;1 

tempting  to  bite  their  chains,  ;md  thus  punishing  their  o\va 
fierceness. 

The  Dacians  live  among  the  mountains.  But,  whenever  the 
Danube  became  passable  by  being  frozen,  they  were  accus- 
tomed, at  the  command  of  Cotiso  their  king,  to  make  descents, 
and  lay  waste  the  neighboring  country.  This  people,  so  diffi- 
cult of  approach,  Caesar  Augustus  determined  to  drive  back. 
Having  dispatched  Lentulus  for  this  purpose,  he  repulsed  them 
beyond  the  further  bank,  and  built  ganisons  on  this  side  of 
the  river.  The  Dacians  were  not,  therefore,  conquered,  but  re- 
pelled, and  left  for  a  future  opportunity. 

The  Sarmatians  occupy  wide  plains,  in  which  they  ride 
about ;  and  it  was  thought  sufficient  to  prevent  them,  by  the 
exertions  of  the  same  Lentulus,  from  crossing  the  Danube. 
They  have  nothing  on  the  face  of  their  territory  but  snows 
and  a  few  woods,  and  such  savages  are  they,  that  they  know 
not  what  peace  is. 

I  wish  he  had  not  thought  it  of  so  much  importance  to  con- 
quer Germany.  The  dishonor  with  which  it  was  lost  was 
greater  than  the  glory  with  which  it  was  gained.  But  because 
he  knew  that  Caesar,  his  father,  had  twice  made  bridges  over 
the  Rhine  to  prosecute  the  war  against  the  country,  he  was 
desirous,  in  honor  of  him,  to  make  it  a  province,  and  it  would 
have  been  made  so  effectually,  if  the  barbarians  could  have 
endured  our  vices  as  well  as  our  government.  Drusus,12 
being  sent  into  the  country,  first  subdued  the  Usipetes,  and 
then  overran  the  districts  of  the  Tenctheri  and  Catti.  Of  the 
remarkable  spoils  of  the  Marcomanni  he  raised  a  high  mound, 
by  way  of  a  trophy.  Next  he  attacked,  at  the  same  time,  the 
three  powerful  tribes  of  the  Cherusci,  Suevi,  and  Sicambri, 
who  had  commenced  the  war  by  burning  twenty  of  our  cen- 
turions, regarding  this  proceeding  as  a  bond  of  union,  and  en- 
tertaining such  confident  hopes  of  victory,  that  they  divided 
the  spoil  by  agreement  beforehand.  The  Cherusci  chose  the 
horses,  the  Suevi  the  gold  and  silver,  and  the  Sicambri  the 
captives.  But  all  happened  contrary  to  their  expectations  ;  for 
Drusus,  proving  conqueror,  divided  their  horses,  cattle,  gold 
chains,  and  themselves,  as  spoil,  and  sold  them.  For  the  de- 
fense of  the  provinces,  too,  he  fixed  garrisons,  and  bodies  of 
• 

ia  Drusus]  Step-son  of  Augustus;  the  same  that  is  mentioned  by  Horace, 
Od.,  iv.  4. 


402  FLORUS.  BOOK  IT. 

guards,  along  the  Meuse,  the  Elbe,  and  the  Weser.  On  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine  he  raised  more  than  fifty  fortresses,  lie 
built  bridges  at  Bonn  and  Gesoriacum,13  and  secured  the  in 
with  ships.  He  opened  a  way  through  the  Hercynian  forest, 
which,  till  that  time,  had  been  unpenetrated  and  unattemptcd. 
At  length  such  peace  was  made  throughout  Germany,  that  the 
inhabitants  seemed  changed,  the  ground  different  from  what  it 
was,  and  the  air  milder  and  softer  than  it  was  wont  to  te. 
And  when  that  brave  young  man  died  there,  the  senate  gave 
him  a  surname  from  the  province  (an  honor  which  they  had 
never  bestowed  on  any  other  general),  not  from  flattery,  but  in 
testimony  of  his  merit 

But  it  is  more  difficult  to  retain14  provinces  than  to  acquire 
them.  They  are  obtained  by  force,  but  secured  by  justice. 
Our  exultation  was  accordingly  but  short.  The  Germans  had 
been  defeated  rather  than  subdued.  Under  the  rule  of  Drusus 
they  respected  our  manners  rather  than  our  arms.  But  when 
Drusus  was  dead,  they  began  to  detest  the  licentiousness  and 
pride,  no  less  than  the  cruelty,  of  Quintilius  Varus.  He  ven- 
tured to  call  an  assembly,  and  administered  justice  in  his  camp, 
as  if  he  could  restrain  the  violence  of  barbarians  by  the  rods 
of  a  lictor  and  voice  of  a  crier.  But  the  Germans,  who  had 
long  regretted  that  their  swords  were  covered  with  rust,  and 
their  horses  idle,  proceeded,  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  toga,  and 
felt  laws  more  cruel  than  arms,  to  go  to  war  under  the  conduct 
of  Arminius,  while  Varus,  meantime,  was  so  well  assured  of 
peace,  that  he  was  not  the  least  alarmed,  even  by  a  previous 
notice,  and  subsequent  discovery  of  the  plot,  made  by  Segeetes, 
one  of  the  enemy's  chieftains.  Having,  therefore,  risen  upon 
him  unawares,  and  fearing  nothing  of  the  kind,  while  he,  wilh 
a  strange  want  of  precaution,  was  actually  summoning  them 
to  his  tribunal,  they  assailed  him  on  every  side,  seized  Lis 
camp,  and  cut  off  three  legions.  Varus  met  his  overthrow 
with  the  same  fortune  and  spirit  with  which  Paulus  met  the 
day  of  Cannae.  Never  was  slaughter  more  bloody  than  that 
which  was  made  of  the  Romans  among  the  marshes  and 
woods ;  never  were  insults  more  intolerable  than  those  of  the 
barbarians,  especially  such  as  they  inflicted  on  the  pleaders  of 

»»  Gesoriacum]  Af terward  called  Bononia,»whence  its  modern  name  Bou- 
logne. 

14  More  difficult  to  retain,  etc.]  He  has  the  same  remark,  ii.  17. 


HOOK  iv.  EPITOME  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  403 

causes.  Of  some  they  tore  out  the  eyes,  of  others  they  cut  off 
the  hands.  Of  one  the  mouth  was  sewed  up,  after  his  tongue 
1  al  been  cut  out,  which  one  of  the  savages  holding  in  Ids 
han  1,  cried,  "  At  last,  viper,  cease  to  hiss."  The  body  of  the 
consul  himself,  which  the  affection  of  the  soldiers  had  buried, 
was  dug  out  of  the  ground.  To  this  day  the  barbarians  keep 
possession  of  the  standards  and  two  eagles,16  the  third,  the 
standard-bearer,  before  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
wrenched  off,  and  keeping  it  hid  within  the  folds  of  his  belt, 
concealed  himself  in  the  blood-stained  marsh.  In  consequence 
of  this  massacre,  it  happened  that  the  empire,  which  had  not 
stopped  on  the  shore  of  the  Ocean,  found  its  course  checked  on 
the  banks  of  the  Rhine. 

Such  were  the  occurrences  in  the  north.  In  the  south  there 
Avere  rather  disturbances  than  wars.  Augustus  quelled  the 
Musulanians  and  Getulians,  who  border  on  the  Syrtes,  by  the 
agency  of  Cossus,  who  had  thence  the  surname  of  Getulicus. 
But  his  successes  extended  further  He  assigned  the  Marmaridse 
and  Garamantes  to  Curinius  to  subdue,  who  might  have  re- 
turned with  the  surname  of  Marmaricus,  had  he  not  been  too 
modest  in  setting  a  value  on  his  victory. 

There  was  more  trouble  with  the  Armenians  in  the  east, 
whither  Agustus  sent  one  of  the  Caesars  his  grandsons."  Both 
of  them  were  short-lived,  but  only  one  of  them  died  without 
glory.  Lucius  was  carried  off  by  disease  at  Marseilles,  Caius  in 
Syria  by  a  wound,  while  he  was  engaged  in  recovering  Armenia, 
which  ha  I  revolted  to  the  Parthians.  Pompey,  after  the  defeat 
of  king  Tigranes,  had  accustomed  the  Armenians  to  such  a 
degree  of  bondage  as  to  receive  rulers  from  us.  The  exercise 
of  this  right,  after  having  been  interrupted,  was,  by  Caius 
Drusus,  recovered  in  a  slight  struggle,  which,  however,  was  not 
Avithout  bloodshed.  Domnes,  whom  the  king  had  made  gov- 
ernor of  Artaxata,  pretending  that  he  would  betray  the  place, 
struck  Drusus  as  he  was  intent  on  perusing  a  scroll,  which  the 
assassin  had  just  presented  to  him  as  containing  an  account  of 
the  treasures.  He  was  hurt,"  but  recovered  of  the  wound  for  a 

15  To  this  day — two  eagles]  Aquilas  dua*  adhuc  larbarl  possident.  Frein- 
shemius  observes  that  these  were  recovered  before  the  time  of  Floras  ;  ono 
by  Stertlnius.  as  is  stated  in  Tacit.  Ann.,  i.  60 ;  and  the  other  by  Gabinius, 
as  is  told  by  -Won  Cassius,  lib.  Ix.  "  Lipsius,  on  Tacit.  Ann.,  ii.  25,  ex-. 
presses  a  suspicion  that  Floras  copied  his  account  from  some  Roman  his-, 
torian  who  wrote  before  the  recovery  of  the  eagles.  Duker. 

18  His  grandsons]  Sons  of  his  daughter  Julia  and  Marcus  Agrippn. 

17  Hurt]  Strietus.  Stringere,  used  in  this  way,  is  generally  leviter  vulnerafe. 


404  FLORUS.  BOOK  iv. 

time.  But  Domnes,  pursued  on  all  sides  by  the  incensed  army, 
made  some  atonement  to  Caesar  while  lie  still  survived,  not  only 
by  his  sword,  but  a  burning  pyre,  on  which,  when  wounded,  ho 
cast  himself. 

In  the  west,  almost  all  Spain  was  subdued,  except  that  part 
which  the  Hither  Ocean18  washes,  and  which  lies  close  upo:i 

,  the  rocks  at  the  extremity  of  the  Pyrenees.  Here  two  very 
powerful  nations,  the  Cantabrians  and  Asturians,  lay  exempt 
from  the  dominion  of  the  Romans.  The  spirit  of  the  Caut:> 
brians  was  the  more  mischievous,  more  haughty,  and  more  ob- 
f  tin  ate  in  raising  war ;  for  not  content  with  defending  their 
liberty,  they  also  attempted  to  domineer  over  their  neighbors, 
and  harassed,  with  frequent  inroads,  the  Vaccaei,  the  Curgonii, 
and  the  Antrigonae. 

Against  this  people,  therefore,  as  they  were  said  to  be  pursu- 
ing violent  measures,  an  expedition  was  not  committed  by 
Augustus  to  another,  but  undertaken  by  himself.  He  advanced 
to  Segisama,  where  he  pitched  his  camp,  and  then,  dividing  his 
army,  he  inclosed  by  degrees19  the  whole  of  Campania,  and 
caught  the  savage  people,  like  wild  beasts,  as  with  a  circle  of 
nets.  Nor  were  they  spared  on  the  side  of  the  Ocean,  where 
their  rear  was  vigorously  assailed  by  a  fleet.  His  first  battle 
against  the  Cantabrians  was  under  the  walls  of  Vellica.20  Hence 
they  fled  to  the  lofty  mountain  Vinnius,  which  they  thought 
the  waters  of  the  Ocean  would  ascend  sooner  than  the  arms  of 
the  Romans.  In  the  third  place,  the  town  of  Aracillum  made 
violent  resistance  ;  but  it  was  at  last  taken.  At  the  siege  of 
the  mountain  Medullus  (which  he  had  surrounded  with  a  trench 
of  fifteen  miles  in  length),  when  the  Romans  pressed  forward  on 
every  side,  and  the  barbarians  saw  themselves  reduced  to  ex- 
tremity, they  eagerly  hastened  their  own  deaths  at  a  banquet, 
with  fire,  sword,  and  a  kind  of  poison,  which  is  there  commonly 
extracted  from  yew-trees ;  and  thus  the  greater  part  escaped  the 
captivity  which  threatened  them.  Of  this  success,  obtained  by 

1  his  lieutenant-generals  Antistius,  Furnius,  and  Agrippa,  Caesar 

18  Hither  Ocean]  Citerwr  Occanus.  What  Florus  meant  by  Citerior 
Oceanns,  neither  Ryckius,  nor  Madame  Dacier,  nor  Duker,  can  settle.  The 
Cantabri  and  Astures  were  situate  near  the  end  of  the  Pyrenees  furthest 
from  Home,  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

18  By  degrees]  In  diem  "From  day  to  day."  Perizonius,  Freinshe- 
mius,  and  GrseviuSj  would  read  indidem ;  but  this,  as  Duker  observes,  is 
superfluous,  when  inde  precedes. 

20  Of  Vellica]  All  the  editions  have  Belgicce,;  but  there  is  no  place  of  this 
name  known  in  Spain.  Vellica  is  the  conjecture  of  Stadius,  approved  by 
Gruter,  Grsevius,  and  Perizonius. 


BOOK  IT.  EPITOME  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  405 

received  the  news  while  wintering  on  the  sea-coast  of  Tarraco.  Ho 
himself,  arriving  at  the  place,  brought  some  of  the  inhabitants 
down  from  the  mountains,  bound  others  by  taking  hostages  of 
them,  and  sold  others,  by  right  of  war,  for  slaves.  The  achievement 
appeared  to  the  senate  worthy  of  the  laurel  and  triumphal  chariot, 
but  Cassar  was  now  so  great  that  he  could  despise  triumphs. 

The  Asturians,  at  the  same  time,  had  come  down  in  a  vast 
body  from  their  mountains  ;  nor  had  they  undertaken  an  enter- 
prise rashly,  like  barbarians,  but,  having  pitched  their  camp  at 
the  river  Astura,  and  divided  their  forces  into  three  parts,  they 
prepared  to  attack  three  camps  of  the  Romans  at  once.  With 
such  brave  enemies,  coining  upon  us  so  suddenly  and  in  such 
order,  there  would  have  been  a  doubtftd  and  desperate  combat, 
(and  would  that  I  could  think  the  loss  on  both  sides  would 
have  been  equal !)  had  not  the  Trigaecini  betrayed  them.  Car- 
isius,  forewarned  by  the  latter  people,  and  coining  up  with  his 
army,  frustrated  the  enemy's  designs,  though  not  even  thus 
without  bloodshed.  Lancia,  a  strong  city,  received  the  survivors 
of  the  routed  army.  Here  there  was  so  fierce  an  encounter, 
that  firebrands  were  called  for  to  burn  the  city  after  it  was 
taken,  when  the  general  with  difficulty  prevailed  with  the  troops 
to  spare  it,  "  that  it  might  be  a  monument  of  the  Roman  vic- 
tory as  it  stood,  rather  than  burnt." 

This  was  the  termination  of  the  campaigns  of  Augustus,  as 
well  as  of  rebellion  in  Spain.  The  fidelity  of  the  Spaniards 
toward  us  was  afterward  unshaken,  and  peace  remained  unin- 
terrupted ;  a  consequence  resulting  as  well  from  their  own  dis- 
position, which  was  now  more  inclined  to  tranquillity,  as  from. 
the  management  of  Caesar,  who,  dreading  their  confidence  im 
the  mountains  where  they  sheltered  themselves,  ordered  them 
to  occupy  and  inhabit  the  part  in  which  his  camp  had  been, 
and  which  was  level  ground.  This  regulation  was  noticed  as 
one  of  great  prudence.  The  countiy  round  about  contains  gold, 
and  yields  vermilion,  chrysocolla,  and  other  pigments.21  He 
accordingly  ordered  the  soil  to  be  worked.  Thus  the  Asturians 
became  acquainted  with  their  treasures  hid  in  the  earth,  by 
searching  for  them  for  others. 

91  Chrysocolla,  and  other  pigments]  ChrysocoUae,  et  aliorum  colorum. 
Chrysocolla,  is  generally  considered  to  be  the  same  with  borax.  Good,  in 
his  notes  on  Lucretius,  vi.  1077,  says  that  it  is  "  a  mineral  sand,  found  on 
the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea,  of  an  elegant  green  color,  denominated  by  tlio 
nations  of  modern  times  tincar  or  tincal."  See  Pliny,  H.  N..  xixiii.  5. 
Borax  id  also  said  to  be  found  in  great  quantities  in  Thibet. 


406  FLORUS.  BOOK  iv. 

All  nations  in  the  west  and  south  being  subdued,  and  all  to 
the  north  between  the  Rhine  and  Danube,  as  well  as  all  to  the 
east  between  the  Cyrus  and  Euphrates,  the  other  countries  also, 
which  had  not  fallen  under  the  authority  of  Rome,  yet  grew 
sensible  of  her  grandeur,  and  reverenced  a  people  who  had 
conquered  so  many  nations.  The  Scythians  and  Sarmatians 
sent  ernbassa  lors  to  us,  desiring  our  friendship.  The  Seres,  too, 
and  the  Indians  who  live  under  the  very  sun,  coming  with 
jewels  and  pearls,  and  bringing  also  elephants  among  their 
presents,  thought  they  proved  their  respect  to  Augustus  by 
nothing  so  much  as  the  length  of  their  journey,  which  they  had 
taken  four  years  to  complete.  The  complexion  of  the  men22 
showed  that  they  came  from  another  climate.  The  Parthians, 
also,  as  if  they  repented  of  their  victory,  brought  back,  of  their 
own  accord,  the  standards  which  they  had  taken  on  the  over- 
throw of  Crassus. 

Thus  there  was  every  where,  throughout  the  whole  world, 
uniform  and  uninterrupted"  peace  or  agreement  ;24  and  Cassar 
Augustus,  in  the  seven  hundredth  year  from  the  foundation  of 
the  city,  ventured  to  shut  the  temple  of  double-faced  Janus, 
which  had  been  shut  but  twice  before,  in  the  reign  of  Numa, 
and  when  Carthage  was  first  conquered.  Afterward,  applying 
his  thoughts  to  secure  tranquillity,  he  kept  in  order,  by  many 
strict  and  severe  laws,  an  age  which  was  prone  to  every  vice, 
and  plunging  fast  into  luxury.  For  these  great  achievements, 
he  was  styled  Perpetual  Dictator,  and  Father  of  his  Country. 
It  was  debated,  too,  in  the  senate,  whether,  as  he  had  established 
the  empire,  he  should  not  also  be  called  Romulus •  but  the 
name  of  Augustus  was  thought  more  sacred  and  venerable,  in 
order  that,  while  he  still  lived  on  earth,  he  might  in  name  and 
title  be  ranked  among  the  gods. 

M  The  complexion  of  the  men,  etc.]  M  tamen  iptse  Jvominnm  color,!  etc. 
The  tamen,  as  Madame  Dacier  remarks,  is  worse  than  useless,  giving  a 
ridiculous  meaning  to  the  sentence.  It  is  wanting  in  one  of  Ryckius's 
manuscripts,  and  in  some  editions.  I  have  omitted  it. 

23  Uniform  and  uninterrupted]   Cuncta  atque  continua.     Cuncta  is  read  in 
all  manuscripts  and  editions,  but  is,  as  Grsevius  observes,  unintelligible.    I 
have  preferred  -una,  the  conjecture  of  Gronovius.     Lipsius  had  previously 
suggested  juncta. 

24  Peace  or  agreement]  Pax — autpactio.    All  people  were  quiet,  as  hav- 
ing either,  from  being  conquered,  accepted  terms  of  peace,  or  consenting 
to  abstain,  at  least  for  the  present,  from  hostilities.    The  latter  class,  as 
J)uker  observes,  were  those  of  whom  Florus  speaks  a  little  above  ;  nations 
who,  though  not  actually  subdued  by  the  Romans,  were  sensible  of  their 
superiority,  and  respected  their  power. 


VELLEIUS    PATERCULUS, 


REMAINS    OF    HIS    COMPENDIUM    OF    THE    HISTORY    OF    ROME. 


BOOK     I. 

THE  ARGUMENT. 

CITIES  founded  by  the  Greeks  on  their  return  from  Troy  5  acts  of  Orestes ; 
arrival  of  Tyrrhenus  in  Italy,  I.  Keturn  of  the  Herachdae ;  death  of  Co- 
drus ;  founding  of  Megara,  Gades,  and  Utica,  II.  Of  the  Achseans,  Pc- 
lasgi,  Thessalians,  and  the  settlement  of  Corinth,  III.  Chalcis.  Magnesia, 
Cumse,  Naples,  and  many  other  cities,  founded,  IV.  Age  and  character 
of  Homer,  V.  Of  the  Assyrian  empire,  Lycurgus,  and  the  origin  of  Car- 
thage, VI.  Of  Hesiod,  and  the  building  of  Capua  and  Nola,  VII.  Tho 
Olympic  games  ;  the  founding  of  Koine,  VIII.  The  second  Macedonian 
Avar,  IX.  Of  Antiochus  the'Great,  and  Einilius  Paulus,  X.  Pseudo- 
Philippus;  Metellus  Macedonians,  XI.  Destruction  of  Corinth  and  Car- 
thage, XII.  Death  of  Cato ;  character  of  Muinmius  and  Scipio  Africu- 
nus,  XIII.  Establishment  of  Koman  colonies,  XIV.,  XV.  Considerations 
why  many  eminent  men,  in  the  several  arts,  arise  at  the  same  time,  XVI., 
XVII.  Commencement  of  similar  observations  on  cities,  XVIII. 

L  *  *  *  *  [Epeus],  being  parted1  by  a  storm  from 
Nestor  his  commander,  built  Metapontum.2  Teucer,  not  being 
received  at  home,  by  his  father  Telamon,  for  his  pusillanimity 
in  not  avenging  the  injustice  shown  to  his  brother,3  sailed  to 
Cyprus,  where  he  built  Salamis,  a  city  named  after  his  own 
birthplace.  Pyrrhus,  the  son  of  Achilles,  took  possession  of 
1  Epirus,  and  Phidippus4  of  Ephyra  in  Thesprotia.  As  to  Aga- 

1 1.  [Epeus,]  being  parted,  etc.]  The  name  is  wanting  in  the  text  at  the 
commencement  of  this  fragment.  But  it  appears  "from  Justin  xx.  2,  as  well 
as  from  Aristotle,  De  Miraculis,  that  it  was  i-peus,  the  builder  of  the  Trojan 
horse  (doll  fabricator  Epeus,  Virg.  ^En.,  ii.  864)  who  founded  Metapontum. 

<J  Metapontum]  on  the  coast  of  Lncania,  in  the  south  of  Italy. 

3  flis  brother]  Ajax,  who  was  refused  the  arms  of  Achilles. 

*  Phidippus]  An  inferior  leader  in  the  Trojan  war,  from  the  isles  «f  Cf:- 
\j  lute,  on  the  coast  of  Caria.  Horn.  II.,  ii.  078. 


408  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOKI. 

memnon,  the  king  of  kings,  he  was  driven  by  a  tempest  on 
the  island  of  Crete,  where  he  founded  three  cities,  Mycenae, 
Tegea,  and  Pergamus,  of  which  two  had  names  from  his  own 
country,  and  the  third  from  the  recollection  of  his  recent  vic- 
tory. Soon  after,  being  entrapped  by  the  treachery  of  his 
cousin6  JEgisthus,  who  bore  a  hereditary  hatred  toward  him, 
and  by  the  malice  of  his  wife,  he  was  murdered.  ^Egisthus 
held  the  throne  for  seven  years  ;  when  Orestes,  in  concert  with 
his  sister  Electra,  a  woman  of  masculine  courage,  and  sharer 
in  all  his  designs,  slew  both  ^Egisthus  and  his  own  mother. 
That  his  deed  was  approved  by  the  gods,  was  apparent  from 
the  length  of  his  life  and  the  prosperity  of  his  reign ;  for  ho 
lived  ninety  years  and  reigned  seventy.  He  also  revenged 
himself  on  Pyrrhus,  son  of  Achilles,  with  similar  spirit ;  for 
Pyrrhus  having  supplanted  him  by  marrying  Hermione,  the 
daughter  of  Menelaus  and  Helen,  who  had  been  betrothed  to 
Orestes,  Orestes  slew  him  at  Delphi. 

During  this  period,  the  brothers  Lydus  and  Tyrrhenus,  who 
reigned  in  Lydia,  were  compelled,  by  the  unproductiveness  of 
their  corn-fields,  to  cast  lots  which  of  the  two,  taking  half  of 
the  people  with  him,  should  quit  their  country.  The  lot  fell 
upon  Tyrrhenus,6  who,  sailing  into  Italy,  gave,  from  his  own 
name,  an  illustrious  and  enduring  appellation  to  the  country, 
the  inhabitants,  and  the  adjacent  sea.  After  the  death  of  Ores- 
tes, his  sons,  Penthilus  and  Tisamenus,  reigned  three  years. 

H.  At  this  time,  about  eighty  years  after  Troy  was  taken, 
and  a  hundred  and  twenty  after  the  translation  of  Hercules  to 
the  gods,  the  family  of  Pelops,  which,  after  expelling  the  Her- 
aclidae,  had  held,  during  the  whole  of  this  period,  the  sovereign- 
ty of  the  Peloponessus,  was  in  turn  expelled  by  them.  The 
leaders  in  recovering  the  dominion  were  Temenus,  Oesphontes, 
and  Aristodemus,  of  whom  Hercules  was  great-grandfather. 

About  the  same  period,  Athens  ceased  to  be  ruled  by  kings, 
its  last  monarch  being  Coclrus,  the  son  of  Melanthus,  a  man 
deserving  of  particular  notice  ;  for  when  the  Spartans  were  se- 
verely pressing  the  Athenians  in  war,  and  Apollo  had  given 
an  oracle  that  that  side  would  be  victorious  whose  leader  should 
be  killed  by  the  enemy,  Codrus,  having  laid  aside  his  royal 

8  His  cousin]  Patruelis.  He  was  the  BOH  of  Thyestes,  brother  of  Atreus, 
Agamemnon's  father. 

•  Tyrrhenus]  He  gave  name,  it  is  said,  to  Tyrrhenia,  Tnscia.  or  Etrari:u, 
in  Italy.  The  story  of  his  departure  from  Lydia  is  taken  from  Herod.,  i.  (J4. 


HOOK  L  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  409 

s.pparel,  put  on  the  attire  of  a  shepherd,  and  went  into  the 
midst  of  the  enemy's  camp,  where,  intentionally  provoking  a 
quarrel,  he  was  slain  without  being  known.7  From  his  death, 
eternal  glory  accrued  to  Codrus,  and  victory  to  the  Athenians. 
Who  can  help  admiring  a  man  that  sought  for  death  with  the 
same  stratagems  with  which,  by  those  of  meaner  spirit,  life  is 
won:;  to  be  sought?  His  sou  Medon  was  the  first  archon  at 
Athens ;  from  whom  his  descendants  were  called  by  the  Athen- 
ians, Medontidse  ;  and  these,  as  well  as  the  following  archons, 
dowa  to  the  time  of  Charops,  held  then-  office  during  life. 
The  Peloponnesians,  on  retiring  from  the  Athenian  territory, 
founded  Megara,  a  city  equally  distant  from  Corinth  and 
Athens. 

At  this  time,  also,  a  fleet  of  the  Tyrians,  then  very  powerful 
at  sea,  founded  the  city  of  Gades,  on  the  remotest  coast  of 
Spain,  at  the  extremity  of  one  part  of  the  world,  and  on  an 
island  surrounded  by  the  Ocean,  divided  from  the  continent 
only  by  a  very  narrow  strait.  By  the  same  people,  also,  a  few 
years  afterward,  Utica,  in  Africa,  was  built.  The  children  of 
Orestes,  being  expelled  by  the  Heraclida3,  and  harassed  by 
various  misfortunes,  as  well  as  by  hardships  at  sea,  found  a 
settlement,  in  the  fifteenth  year  after  their  expulsion,  opposite 
the  island  of  Lesbos. 

III.  During  this  period  Greece  was  shaken  by  violent  com- 
motions. The  Achaeans,  driven  from  Laconia,  settled  in  those 
tracts  which  they  now  occupy.  The  Pelasgi  removed  to 
Athens ;  and  a  young  man  of  warlike  spirit,  by  name  Thessalus, 
and  by  birth  a  Thesprotian,  took  forcible  possession,  with  the 
aid  of  a  nuraarous  body  of  his  countrymen,  of  that  region 
which  is  now,  from  his  name,  called  Thessaly,  but  which  was 
before  termed  the  country  of  the  Myrmidons.  Hence  there  is 
reawn  to  wonder  at  those  authors,  who,  in  their  accounts  of 
the  Troj  m  period,  speak  of  that  country  by  the  name  of  Thes- 
saly ;  a  fault  which  not  only  other  writers  commit,  but  writers 
of  tragedy  more  frequently  than  any  ;  though  in  them,  least  of 
all,  is  such  license  «to  be  excused,  for  they  express  nothing  in 
their  own  character  of  poets,  but  narrate  every  thing  under  the 
the  persons  of  those  who  lived  at  the  time  But  if  any  one 
shall  maintain  that  they  were  called  Thessalonians  from  Thes- 

7  IT.  Without  being  known}  Imprudtnter.  "  Hewaa  slain  by  th«  enemy, 
M  /L  i>cing  iiwtirc  that  lie  wits  the  km<r."  Lipsi/us. 

18 


410  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  I. 

salus,  the  son  of  Hercules,8  he  will  have  to  give  a  reason  why 
the  people  did  not  assume  this  name  till  the  time  of  the  latter 
Thessalus.  A  little  before  this,  Aletes,  sixth  in  descent  from 
Hercules,  and  son  of  Hippotes,  rebuilt9  Corinth  on  the  Isthmus, 
which  was  previously  called  Ephyre,  and  which  forms  the 
principal  barrier  of  the  Peloponnesus.  Nor  is  there  any  reason 
for  us  to  wonder  that  it  was  called  Corinth  by  Homer  ;  for,  in 
his  character  of  poet,  he  calls  both  this  city,  and  some  of  the 
Ionian  colonies,  built  long  after  the  taking  of  Troy,  by  the 
same  names  which  they  bore  in  his  own  times. 

IV.  The  Athenians  settled  colonies  at  Chalcis  and  Eretria 
in  Eubcea;  the  Lacedaemonians  established  another  at  Mag- 
nesia in  Asia.  Not  long  afterward,  the  people  of  Chalcis,  who 
were  sprung,  as  I  have  just  said,  from  the  Athenians,  founded 
Cumse  in  Italy,  under  the  leadership  of  Hippocles  and  Megas- 
thenes.  The  course  of  their  fleet  was  directed,  as  some  say,  by 
the  flight  of  a  dove  that  preceded  it,  or,  as  others  state,  by  the 
sound  of  brazen  instruments  during  the  night,  such  as  is  com- 
monly made  at  the  rites  of  Ceres.  Some  natives  of  this  city, 
a  long  time  after,  built  Neapolis ;  and  the  exemplary  fidelity 
of  both  these  cities  to  the  Romans,  renders  them  eminently 
worthy  of  their  high  reputation,  and  of  the  delightful  situations 
which  they  enjoy.  But  the  institutions  of  their  original  coun- 
try have  been  more  diligently  preserved  by  the  Neapolitans  ; 
for  the  neighborhood  of  the  Osci  altered  the  manners  of  the 
people  of  Cumse.  The  present  extent  of  the  walls  of  these 
cities  shows  the  greatness  of  their  power  in  former  days. 

At  a  subsequent  period,  a  vast  number  of  Grecian  youth, 
seeking,  from  a  redundance  of  population,  for  new  settlements, 
poured  into  Asia.  The  lonians,  sailing  from  Athens  under  the 
conduct  of  Ion,  took  possession  of  the  finest  part  of  the  sea- 
coast,  now  called  Ionia,  and  built  the  cities  of  Ephesus,  Miletus, 
Colophon,  Priene,  Lebedus,  Myus,  Erythra,  Clazomense,  and 
Phoceea.  They  also  seized  on  many  of  the  islands  in  the 
.^Egean  and  Icarian  seas,  as  Samos,  Chios,  Andros,  Tenos, 
Paros,  Delos,  and  others  of  less  note.  Soon*  after,  the  JEolians, 
also,  setting  out  from  Greece,  and  wandering  about  for  a  long 
time,  found  at  length  settlements  not  less  valuable,  and  founded 

8  III.  Thessalus,  the  son  of  Hercules]  Father  of  Phidippus  above  men- 
tioned. Homer,  loc.  tit. 

»  Rebuilt]  Gondidit.     "  Ex  intcgro,  restituit."     Vossius. 


BOOK  I.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  41 1 

some  famous  cities,  as  Smyrna,  Cyme,  Larissa,  Myrina,  and 
Mitylene,  with  others  in  the  island  of  Lesbos. 

V.  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  illustrious  genius  of  Homer 
shone  forth ;  a  genius  great  beyond  example ;  tor  by  the  grand- 
eur of  his  subjects,  aud  the  splendor  of  his  verse,  he  has  gained 
an  exclusive  right10  to  the  name  of  poet.     What  is  most  re- 
markable with  respect  to  him,  is,  that  neither  was  there  any 
one  before  him  whom  he  could  imitate,  nor  has  any  one  since 
been  found  who  could  imitate  him.     Nor  can  we  point  to  any 
other  author,  except  Homer  and  Antilochus,  who  arrived  at 
the  highest  excellence  in  the  kind  of  writing  of  which  he  was 
the  inventor.     He  lived  longer  after  the  Trojan  war,  which  he 
took   for   his   subject,  than  some   suppose ;  for  he   flourished 
about  nine  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  and  was  born  within  u 
thousand      It  is  not  at  all_  surprising,  therefore,  that  he  fre- 
quently uses  the  expression  oioi  vvv  figoioi  eiat,  such  as  men  now 
are  ;  for  by  this  the  difference  in  mankind,  as  well  as  in  ages, 
is  signified.     Whoever  believes  that  he  was  born  blind,  must 
be  himself  deprived  of  ail  his  senses. 

VI.  In   the    subsequent   period,   about   eight  hundred    and 
seventy  years  ago,  the  empire  of  Asia  was  transferred  from  the 
Assyrians,  who  had  held  it  a  thousand  and  seventy  years,  to 
the  Medes.     For  Arbaces,  a  Mede,  dethroned  and  put  to  death 
their  monarch    Sardanapalus,  a   man  immersed  in  luxurious 
gratifications,  and  courting  extravagant  pleasures  to  his  own 
destruction ;  and  who  was  the  thirty-third  in  succession  from 
Ninus  and  Serniramis,  the  founders  of  Babylon,  a  succession  so 
regular  that  the  son  had  in  every  instance  inherited  the  throne 
of  his  father. 

In  this  age,  too,  Lycurgus,  the  Lacedaemonian,  a  mau  of 
royal  birth,  was  the  author  of  a  most  severe  and  just  body  of 
laws,  and  of  a  system  of  education  most  suitable11  to  the  char- 
acter of  his  countrymen ;  and  Sparta,  as  long  as  she  adhered 
to  it,  was  eminently  prosperous. 

During  the  same  period,  sixty-five  years  before  the  founda- 
tion of  Rome,  the  city  of  Carthage  was  built  by  Elissa  of  Tyre, 

10  V.  An  exclusive  rijrht,  etc.]  Solus  a/ppettari  poeta,  meruil.     "  N on  sum- 
inns  inodo  ;  splendidutn  judicium."     Arau.se. 

11  VI.  System  of  education  most  suitable]   Disciplince  eonvenientissimai 
\vir\.    I  have  omitted  vir,  which,  as  Ruhnken  says,  "millo  pacto  tolerari 
potest."    Heinsius  would  alter  it  to  mrtuti ;  Ruhnken  to  viribus  ;  and  somo 
other  critics,  us  Krause  signifies,  have  proposed  viri-i. 


412  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  t 

whom  some  suppose  to  be  the  same  as  Dido.  About  the  same 
time,  Caranus,  a  man  of  regal  extraction,  being  the  sixteenth  in 
descent  from  Hercules,  took  his  departure  from  Argos,  and 
seized  on  the  kingdom  of  Macedonia.  The  great  Alexander, 
being  the  seventeenth  in  succession  from  Caranus,  might  justly 
boast  of  his  lineages,  as  being  on  his  mother's  side  from 
Achilles,  and  on  his  father's  from  Hercules.13 

VII.  Coeval  with  these  events,   and   separated  by  about  a 
hundred  and  twenty  years  from  Homer,  lived  Hesiod,  a  man 
of  exquisite  taste,  remarkable  for  the  gentle  sweetness  of  his 
numbers,  and  a  great  lover  of  ease  and  retirement.     As  he  was 
nearest  in  time  to  his  illustrious  predecessor,  he  was  also  nearest 
in    the   reputation    of  his  writings.     He  avoided    resembling 
Ho  ner  in  one  respect,  for  he  has  mentioned  both  his  country 
and  his  parents ;  but  the  former  in  the  bitterest  terms  of  re- 
proach, on  account  of  a  fine  which  it  had  imposed  upon  him. 

While  I  am  treating  of  foreign  matters,  a  point  in  our  own 
history  occurs  to  me,  which  has  given  rise  to  many  mistakes, 
and  about  which  there  is  the  greatest  discrepancy  in  the  opin- 
ions of  writers.  Some  authors  say  that,  during  this  period, 
about  eight  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago,  Capua  and  Nola 
were  founded  by  the  Tuscans ;  and  to  their  opinion  I  readily 
assent.  But  how  greatly  does  Marcus  Cato  differ  from  them, 
who  states  that  "  Capua  \v:is  first  founded  by  the  Tuscans,  and 
Nola  soms  time  afterward ;  but  that  Capua  had  stood,  before 
it  was  taken  by  the  Romans,  about  two  hundred  and  sixty 
years.'"  It'  this  be  the  case,  and  as  only  two  hundred  and  forty 
years  have  elapsed  since  the  taking  of  Capua,  it  can  be  but  five 
hundred  years  since  it  was  built.  For  my  own  part,  speaking 
with  deference  to  the  accuracy  of  Cato,  I  can  scarcely  believe 
that  so  great  a  city  rose,  flourished,  fell,  and  sprung  up  again, 
in  so  short  a  space  of  time. 

VIII.  The  Olympic  games,  the  most  celebrated  of  ;ill  spec- 
tacles of  entertainment,  and  best  adapted  for  invigorating  the 
mind  and  the  body,  had  their  commencement  soon  afterward, 
the  founder   of   them   being  Iphitus  of   Elis,   who  instituted 
these   contests,  as  well  as  a  market,  eight  hundred  and  four 
years  before  you,  Marcus  Vinicius,  entered  upon  your  consulship. 

>'-'  At  the  end  of  this  chapter  is  inserted,  in  (ill  the  editions,  a  passage  from 
jfimiiiiis  (or  rather  as  Krause  thinks,  Maniliu*)  Sura.  Some  person,  in  old 
times,  seems  to  have  written  it  in  the  margin  of  his  manuscript,  whciieu  it 
crept  into  the  text.  I  have  omitted  it. 


BOOK  i.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  413 

By  some,  however,  Atreus  is  said  to  have  commenced  this 
solemnity,  when  he  exhibited,  in  this  same  place,  funeral  games 
in  honor  of  his  father  Pelops,  about  twelve  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  on  which  occasion  Hercules  was  victor  in  every  kind 
of  contest. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  the  archons  at  Athens  ceased  to  be 
elected  for  life,  Alcmaeon  being  the  last  that  was  so  appointed, 
and  were  chosen  only  for  ten  years ;  an  arrangement  which 
lasted  for  seventy  years,  when  the  administration  was  committed 
to  annual  magistrates.  Of  those  who  held  office  for  ten  years, 
the  first  was  Charops,  and  the  last  Eryxias ;  of  those  who  re- 
tained it  but  one  year,  the  first  was  Creon. 

In  the  sixth  Olympiad,  twenty-two  years  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  first,  Romulus,  the  son  of  Mars,  having  avenged 
the  wrong  done  to  his  grandfather,  founded  the  city  of  Rome 
on  the  Palatine  hill,  on  the  day  of  the  feast  of  Pales  ;13  from 
which  time,  to  that  of  your  consulate,  is  a  period  of  seven 
hundred  and  eighty-three  years.  This  event  took  place  four 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  years  after  the  taking  of  Troy.  The 
work  was  effected  by  Romulus,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Latin 
legions  of  his  grandfather  ;  for  I  can  readi  y  believe  those  who 
give  this  account,  since,  without  such  assistance,  and  with 
merely  a  defenseless  band  of  shepherds,  he  couid  hardly  have 
established  a  new  city,  while  the  Vejentiue?.,  the  other  Etrus- 
cans, and  the  Sabines,  were  so  close  upon  ivlm,  how  much  so- 
ever he  strengthened  it  by  opening  an  asylum  between  the 
two  groves.  He  had  a  hundred  chosen  tuen,  called  Fathers,  as 
a  public  council.  Such  origin  had  tho  tei-rn  Patricians.14  The 

seizure  of  the  Sabine  virgins  * 

******* 

IX.  *  *  *  proved  a  more  powerful  enemy14  than  the  Ro- 
mans had  apprehended  ;  for  he  maintained  a  struggle,  during 
two  years,  with  such  variation  of  fortune,  that  he  had  generally 
the  advantage,  and  drew  a  great  part  of  Greece  into  alliance 
with  him.  Even  the  Rhodians,  who  had  previously  been  most 

i'  VIII.  Feast  of  Pales]  April  21st. 

n  Patricians]  Patricii,  from  patres.    Comp.  Flor.,  i.,  1. 

15 IX.  Proved  a  more  powerful  enemy]  Here  is  a  great  hiatus,  all  the 
history  of  Rome  being  lost  from  the  foundation  of  the  city  to  the  year  TJ.C. 
582.  'The  commencement  of  the  chapter  stands  thus :  .  .  .  quam  timuerat 
}i> *t i*,  expetit.  Cipsius,  for  expetti,  would  substitute  extitit,  and  thinks  that 
the  author  had  written  something  to  this  effect:  Popjlo  Romano  gravior, 
quam  timuerat,  Jiostis  extitit,  nempo  Perses.  See  Florus,  u.  12. 


414  VELLEIUS  PATERCTJLUS.  BOOK  r. 

faithful  to  the  Romans,  began,  with  wavering  allegiance,  to 
watch  the  turns  of  fortune,  and  appeared  rather  inclined  to  the 
side  of  the  king.  Eumenes,  too,  in  this  war,  was  undecided  in 
his  views,  and  acted  consistently  neither  with  his  brother's18 
proceedings  at  first,  nor  with  his  own  general  conduct.  At 
length  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome  elected  to  the  consul- 
ship Lucius  -5Cmilius  Paulus,  who  had  previously  triumphed 
both  as  praetor  and  consul ;  a  man  deserving  of  the  highest 
honor  which  merit  can  be  conceived  to  attain.  He  was  the 
son  of  that  Paulus  who  commenced  with  such  reluctance  the 
battle  of  Canna3,  so  fatal  to  the  Commonwealth,  and  who  met 
death  in  it  with  so  much  fortitude.  He  routed  Perses,  in  a 
great  battle,  near  a  city  named  Pydna  in  Macedonia,  and  drove 
him  from  his  camp ;  and  at  last,  after  destroying  his  troops, 
forced  him  to  flee  from  his  dominions.  The  king,  after  quitting 
Macedonia,  took  refuge  in  the  island  of  Samothrace,  and  com- 
mitted himself,  as  a  suppliant,  to  the  sanctuary  of  the  temple. 
Cnseus  Octavius,  the  praBtor,  who  had  the  command  of  the 
fleet,  followed  him  thither,  and  prevailed  on  him,  rather  by  per- 
suasion than  by  force,  to  trust  himself  to  the  honor  of  the  Ro- 
mans. yEmilius  Paulus,  in  consequence,  led  this  most  eminent 
and  celebrated  prince  in  triumph. 

In  this  year,  too,  were  two  other  famous  triumphs  ;  that  of 
Octavius,  the  naval  commander,  and  that  of  Anicius,  who 
drove  before  his  chariot  Gentius,  the  king  of  the  Illyrians. 
How  constantly  envy  attends  eminent  fortune,  and  how  closely 
it  pursues  the  highest  characters,  may  be  understood  from  the 
following  circumstance,  that  while  no  one  objected  to  the 
triumphs  of  Anicius  and  Octavius,  there  were  some  who  en- 
deavored to  hinder  that  of  Paulus,  though  it  far  exceeded  the 
others,  as  well  in  the  greatness  of  Perses  as  a  monarch,  as  in 
the  magnificent  display  of  war-trophies,  and  the  quantity  of 
money  carried  in  it ;  as  it  brought  into  the  treasury  two  hun- 
dred thousand  sestertia,17  being  beyond  comparison  more  splen- 
did than  any  triumph  that  preceded  it. 

X.  During  the  same  time,  while  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  who 
built  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  at  Athens,  and  who  was  then  king 
of  Syria,  was  besieging  Ptolemy  the  young  king  of  Egypt,  in 
Alexandria,  Marcus  Popilius  Lsenas  was  sent  as  ernbassador  to 

18  His  brother's]  Attains. 

17  Two  hundred  thousand  sostertia]  1,776,0412.  13s.  ±d. 


BOOK  I.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  415 

liiin,  to  require  him  to  desist  from  the  siege.  Popilius  delivered 
his  message,  and  the  king  replying  that  he  would  consider  of 
the  matter,  he  drew  a  circle  round  him  with  a  rod  upon  the 
sand,  desiring  him  to  give  a  decisive  answer  before  lie  passed 
that  boundary.  Roman  firmness  overcame  the  king's  hesita- 
tion, and  the  consul  was  obeyed. 

Lucius  /Emilius  Paulus,  who  obtained  the  great  victory  over 
Perses,  had  four  sons  ;  of  whom  he  had  allowed  the  two  eldest 
to  be  adopted,  one  by  Publius  Scipio,  the  son  of  Africanus, ' 
who  retained  nothing  of  his  father's  greatness  but  the  splendor 
of  his  name  and  the  force  of  his  eloquence,  and  the  other  by 
Fabius  Maximus  ;  the  two  younger,  at  the  time  when  he  gained 
the  victory,  he  had  still  at  home,  as  being  yet  under  age. 
Previously  to  the  day  of  his  triumph,  when,  according  to  an- 
cient usage,  he  was  making  a  statement  of  his  services  to  an 
assembly  without  the  city,  he  entreated  the  immortal  gods,  that 
if  any  of  them  looked  enviously  on  his  actions  and  fortune, 
they  would  vent  their  displeasure  on  himself  rather  than  on  the 
Commonwealth.  This  expression,  as  if  uttered  by  an  oracle, 
robbed  him  of  a  great  part  of  his  offspring ;  for  of  the  two 
sons  whom  he  had  in  his  house,  he  lost  one  a  few  days  before 
his  triumph,  and  the  other  in  fewer  days  after  it. 

About  this  time  occurred  the  censorship  of  Fulvius  Flaccus 
and  Posthumius  Albinus,  which  was  exercised  with  great 
severity ;  for  Cnseus  Fulvius,  the  brother  of  Fulvius  the  censor, 
and  partner  with  him  in  property,18  was  expelled  from  the  senate 
by  those  very  censors. 

XI.  Subsequently  to  the  conquest  and  capture  of  Perses, 
who  died  four  years  afterward  in  private  custody19  at  Alba,  a 
man  who,  from  his  false  representations  concerning  his  birth, 
was  called  Pseudo-Philippus  (for  he  said  that  his  name  was 
Philip,  and  that  he  was  of  the  royal  blood,  though  he  was,  in 
reality,  of  the  meanest  extraction),  seized  the  government  of 
Macedonia  by  force  of  arms,  and  assumed  the  ensigns  of 
royalty.  But  he  soon  paid  the  penalty  of  his  rashness ;  for  the 
praetor  Quintus  Metellus,  who,  from  his  merit  in  war,  had  re- 
ceived the  surname  of  Macedonicus,  gained  a  noble  victory 
over  both  the  imposter  and  his  nation,  and  subdued  at  the 

18  X.  Partner  with  him  in  property]  Consorx.     "  Consortes  are  properly 
coheirs,  inheriting  a  property  in  common,  which  they  suffer  to  remain,  at 
least  for  a  time,  undivided."     Surman. 

19  XL  Private  custody]  Liberd  cwtodia.    See  Sail.,  Cat.,  c.  47. 


416  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  i. 

same  time,  in  a  great  battle,  the  Achaeans20  who  had  recom- 
menced hostilities.  This  is  the  Metellus  Macedonicus  who 
erected  the  porticos  round  the  two  temples  without  an  inscrip- 
tion, now  encircled  by  the  porticos  of  Octavia,  and  who 
brought  from  Macedonia  the  group  of  equestrian  statues  that 
face  the  front  of  the  temples,  and  form  at  present  the  chief 
ornament  of  the  place.  Of  this  group  the  following  origin  is 
related.  Alexander  the  Great,  it  is  said,  desired  Lysippus,  an 
eminent  artist  in  such  performances,  to  mnke  statues  of  such 
horsemen  of  his  own  troop  as  had  fallen  at  the  liver  Granicus, 
representing  their  likenesses  in  the  figures,  and  placing  one  of 
Alexander  himself  among  them.  It  was  this  Metellus,  too, 
who  first  built  at  Rome  a  temple  of  marble,21  among  the  edifices 
just  mentioned,  and  who  was  consequently  the  introducer  of 
what  is  to  be  called  either  magnificence  or  luxury.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  find,  indeed,  a  man  of  any  nation,  age,  or  rank, 
whose  felicity  can  be  compared  with  that  of  Metellus,  for  be- 
sides his  splendid  triumphs,  his  distinguished  honors,  his  ac- 
knowledged pre-eminence  in  the  state,  his  long  extent  of  life, 
and  his  zealous  yet  harmless  contests  with  opponents  for  the 
good  of  his  country,  he  was  the  father  of  four  sons,  whom  he 
saw  arrive  at  manhood,  and  whom  he  left  surviving,  and  in  en- 
joyment of  the  highest  honors.  These  four  sons  supported  his 
bier  before  the  Rostra,  one  of  them  having  been  consul  and 
censor,  another  consul,  the  third  being  consul  at  the  time,  and 
the  fourth  a  candidate  for  the  honor,  which  he  afterward  ob- 
tained. Such  an  end  may  rather  be  called  a  happy  retirement 
from  life,  than  death. 

XII.  The  whole  of  Achaia,  of  which  a  great  part  had  been 
reduced  by  the  conduct  and  arms  of  Metellus,  was  now,  as  we 
have  said,  strongly  inclined  to  hostilities,  being  instigated 
chiefly  by  the  Corinthians,  who  were  guilty  even  of  great  in- 
sults to  the  Romans  ;  and  to  conduct  the  war  against  them  the 
consul  Mummius  was  chosen.  About  the  same  time,  too, 
4  rather  because  the  Romans  wished  to  believe  whatever  was 
said  against  the  Carthaginians,  than  because  any  thing  was 

30  The  Achaeans]  AcfuEos.    That  is,  the  Greeks.    The  Romans  called 
Greece,  as  their  province,  Achaia.     See  Florus,  ii.,  7. 

31  A  temple  of  marble]     JEdem  ex  marmcrre.     Burman  would  take  a'dem 
for  cedes,  understanding  a  private  house  for  Metellus  himself  j  but  this,  as 
Krause  says,  is  not  only  invitd  Latinitate,  but  inmtd  Jdstoria;  for  marble 
was  not  used  in  the  erection  of  private  houses  till  a  much  later  period. 


BOOK  I.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  417 

said  against  them  worthy  of  belief,  the  senate  resolved  on  the 
destruction  of  Carthage.  Accordingly  Publius  Scipio  JEmila- 
nus,  a  man  who  emulated  alike  the  virtues  ot'  his  grandfather 
Publius  Africanus  and  his  father  Lucius  Patilus  ;  who,  in  every 
qualification  for  war  or  peace,  was  the  most  eminent  of  his  age 
as  well  in  natural  ability  as  in  acquired  knowledge  ;  who,  through 
the  whole  of  his  life,  neither  did,  nor  said,  nor  thought  any 
thing  but  what  was  praiseworthy  ;  and  who,  as  I  have  observed, 
had  been  adopted  by  Scipio  the  son  of  Africanus,  was  elected 
consul,  though  at  the  time  he  was  only  candidate  for  an  aedile- 
ship.  He  had  been  previously  honored  in  Spain  with  a  mural, 
and  in  Africa  with  an  obsidional  crown  ;  in  Spain,  also,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  challenge,  lie  had,  though  but  of  moderate  bodily 
strength,  slain  an  antagonist  of  extraordinary  stature  ;  and  he 
now  pressed  on  the  war  against  Carthage,  which  had  been  con- 
ducted for  two  years  by  the  preceding  consuls,  with  additional 
vigor.  This  city,  which,  rather  from  jealousy  of  its  power 
than  from  any  recent  offense,  was  an  object  of  hatred  to  Rome, 
he  utterly  destroyed,  and  made  it  as  much  a  monument  of  his 
own  military  prowess  as  it  had  previously  been  of  his  grand- 
father's clemency. 

Carthage  was  demolished  a  hundred  and  seventy-seven  years 
ago,  in  the  consulship  of  Cnsous  Cornelius  Lentulus,  and  Lucius 
Mummius,  after  having  stood  six  hundred  and  seventy-two 
years.  Such  was  the  end  of  Carthage,  the  rival  of  the  empire 
of  Rome,  with  which  our  forefathers  commenced  war  in  tho 
consulate  of  Claudius  and  Fulvius,  two  hundred  and  ninety-six 
years  before  you,  Marcus  Vinicius,  entered  upon  your  consul- 
ship. Thus  for  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  there  subsisted  be- 
tween these  two  nations  either  war,  or  preparations  for  war, 
or  unsettled  peace.  Nor  did  Rome,  though  the  whole  world 
were  subdued,  trust  that  she  should  be  safe  while  there  was  left 
even  the  name  of  Carthage  unremoved.  So  apt  is  hatred- 
arising  from  contentions,  to  continue  longer  than  the  fear  of 
danger,  and  not  to  be  laid  aside  even  when  the  opposite  party 
is  vanquished ;  nor  does  the  object  of  enmity  cease  to  be  de- 
tested until  it  has  ceased  to  exist. 

XIII.  Three  years  before  Carthage  was  demolished,  Markup 
Cato,  who  had  been  a  constant  advocate  for  its  destruction,  died 
in  the  consulship  of  Lucius  Censorius  and  Marcus  Manlius.  In 
the  very  year  in  which  Carthage  fell,  Lucius  Mummius  utterly 

18* 


418  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  i. 

destroyed  Corinth,  nine  hundred  and  fifty-two  years  after  it  had 
been  built  by  Aletes  the  son  of  Hippotes.  Each  of  the  generals 
was  honored  with  a  name  from  the  people  whom  he  conquered, 
the  one  being  styled  Africanus,  the  other  Achaicus.  No  new 
man™  before  Mummius,  had  ever  assumed  a  surname  derived 
from  military  merit.  Of  these  two  commanders,  the  dispositions, 
as  well  as  the  pursuits,  were  entirely  different.  Scipio  was  so 
elegant  a  cultivator  and  admirer  of  liberal  studies,  and  of  every 
kind  of  learning,  that  he  had  constantly  with  him,  at  home  and 
in  the  field,  two  men  of  eminent  talents,  Polybius  and  Paiuu'.ius; 
for  no  man  balanced  the  fatigues  of  business  with  the  enjoy- 
ments of  leisure  more  judiciously  than  Scipio,  as  he  was  con- 
stantly studying  the  arts  either  of  war  or  of  peace,  and 
constantly  exercising  either  his  body  in  toil  or  his  mind  in 
learning.  Mummius,  on  the  contrary,  was  so  extremely  igno- 
rant, that  when,  on  the  taking  of  Corinth,  he  was  hiring  persons 
to  carry  pictures  and  statues,  finished  by  the  hands  of  the 
greatest  masters,  into  Italy,  he  ordered  notice  to  be  given  to  the 
contractors,  that,  if  they  lost  any  of  them,  they  must  find  new 
ones.  Yet  I  think  you,  Vinicus,  must  be  of  opinion,  that  it 
would  have  been  more  for  the  advantage  of  our  countrymen 
that  their  minds  should  have  remained  still  ignorant  of  Corinth- 
ian elegancies,  than  that  their  knowledge  of  them  should  have 
reached  its  present  height ;  and  that  the  ancient  ignorance 
would  have  been  more  conducive  to  the  public  honor  than  our 
modern  skill. 

XIV.  As  a  view  of  any  historical  subject,  when  contracted 
into  one  continuous  narrative,  is  retained  more  easily  in  the  eye 
and  the  memory  than  when  left  dispersed  in  different  periods, 
I  have  determined  to  introduce  between  the  former  and  the  lat- 
ter part  of  this  volume,  a  summary  of  particulars  on  a  not  un- 
important subject,  and  to  specify,  in  this  part  of  my  work,  what 
colonies,  since  the  capture  of  Rome  by  the  Gauls,  have  been 
established  by  the  order  of  the  senate,  and  at  what  times ;  for 
of  the  military  settlements  the  occasions  and  founders  are  suffi- 
ciently known  from  their  names.  With  this  detail  I  shall  unite, 
I  think  without  impropriety,  an  account  of  the  enlargement  of 
the  state,  and  the  extension  of  the  Roman  name,  by  the  com- 
munication of  its  privileges. 

Seven  years  after  the  Gauls  took  the  city,  the  colony  of  Su- 

«  XIII.  New  mem]  See  Sail.,  Cat.,  c.  28. 


COOK  I.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  419 

triuin  was  settled  ;  the  year  after,  that  of  Setia;  and,  after  an 
interval  of  nine  years,  that  of  Nepe.  Two-and-thirty  years  after- 
ward, the  Aricians  received  the  civic  franchise.  Three  hundred 
and  sixty-two  years  ago,  in  the  consulship  of  Spurius  Posthumius 
and  Veturius  Calvinus,  the  freedom  of  the  city,  but  without  the 
right  of  voting,  was  given  to  the  Campanians  and  part  of  the 
Samnites ;  and  the  same  year  a  colony  was  settled  at  Gales. 
Three  years  afterward,  the  people  of  Fundi  and  Formiae  were 
admitted  as  citizens,  in  the  very  year  that  Alexandria  was 
founded.  In  the  following  consulship,  when  Spurius  Posthu- 
mius and  Philo  Publilius  were  censors,  the  civic  franchise  was 
granted  to  Acerra.  Three  years  afterward  the  colony  of  Terra- 
cina  was  settled  ;  four  years  afterward,  that  of  Luceria ;  in  four 
years  more,  that  of  Suessa  Aurunca,  and  two  years  later,  those 
of  Saticula  and  Interamna.  Then  followed  ten  years  in  which 
nothing  of  the  kind  occurred ;  at  the  end  of  which  time  were 
established  the  colonies  of  Sora  and  Alba,  and  two  years  after- 
ward that  of  Carseoli.  In  the  consulate  of  Quintus  Fabius  for 
the  fifth  time,  and  that  of  Decius  Mus  for  the  fourth  time,  the 
year  in  which  Pyrrhus  began  to  reign,  colonies  were  sent  to 
Sinuessa  and  Minturnse,  and  four  years  afterward  to  Venusia. 
After  an  interval  of  two  years,  in  the  consulate  of  Marcus 
Curius  and  Rufinus  Cornelius,  the  rights  of  citizenship,  but 
without  that  of  voting,  were  given  to  the  Sabines ;  an  event 
which  took  place  about  three  hundred  and  twenty  years  ago. 
About  three  hundred  years  ago,  in  the  consulship  of  Fabius 
Dorso  and  Claudius  Canina,  colonies  were  sent  to  Cosa  and 
Paistum,  and  five  years  afterward,  in  the  consulship  of  Sempro- 
nius  Sophus  and  Appius,  the  son  of  Appius  Csecus,  to  Arimi- 
num  and  Beneventum ;  and  the  right  of  voting  was  then 
granted  to  the  Sabines.  At  the  commencement  of  the  first  Pu- 
nic war,  Firmum  and  Castrum  were  occupied  with  colonies,  and 
the  following  year  ^Esernia ;  in  seventeen  years  afterward  ^Esu- 
lum  and  Alsium  ;  two  years  later,  Fregense  ;  in  the  next  year, 
when  Torquatus  and  Sempronius  were  consuls,  Brundusium ; 
three  years  after,  in  the  year  when  the  games  of  Flora  com- 
menced, Spoletium.  Two  years  later,  Valentia  was  colonized, 
and,  about  the  time  of  Hannibal's  arrival  in  Italy,  Cremona  and 
Placentia. 

XV.  Neither  while   Hannibal  remained   in   Italy,    nor   for 
several  years  immediately  suceeding  his  departure,  had  the  Ro- 


420  VELLEITJS   PATERCULUS.  ROOK  r. 

inans  any  opportunities  of  founding  colonies  ;  for,  while  tin1  \v.-:r 
lasted,  they  were  obliged  to  press  soldiers,  instead  of  discharg- 
ing them,  and,  when  it  was  ended,  their  strength  required  to  be 
recruited  rather  than  dispersed.  However,  in  the  consulship  of 
Manlius  Volso  and  Fabius  Nobilior,  about  two  hundred  and 
seventeen  years  ago,  the  colony  of  Bononia  was  settled,  and 
five  years  afterward,  those  of  Pisaurum  and  Potent ia ;  in  three 
years  more,  Aquileia  and  Gravisca ;  four  years  later,  Luca. 
During  the  same  period,  though  some  express  a  doubt  of  it, 
colonies  were  sent  to  Puteoli,  Salernum,  and  Buxentum.  One 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  years  ago,  a  colony  was  sent  to  Aux- 
imum  in  the  Picenian  territory ;  this  took  place  three  years 
before  Cassius  the  censor  began  to  build  the  theater  looking 
from  the  Lupercal23  toward  Mount  Palatine,  when  the  great 
austerity  of  manners,  and  the  consul  Scipio,  prevented  him24 
from  completing  it;  an  occurrence  which  1  number  among  the 
most  honorable  testimonies  to  the  public  character  in  those 
days.  In  the  consulship  of  Cassius  Longinus  and  Sextius  Cal- 
vinus  (who  defeated  the  Sal  yes2*  at  the  springs  which  were 
from  him  named  Aquce  Sextice),  about  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  years  ago,  the  colony  of  Fabrateria  was  settled,  and  the 
year  after  those  of  Scylacium,  Minervium,  Tarentum,  and  Nep- 
tunia,  as  well  as  Carthage  in  Africa,20  which  was,  as  I  have 
said,  the  first  colony  planted  beyond  the  bounds  of  Italy.  Con- 
cerning Dertona  there  is  no  certainty ;  but  Narbo  Martius  in 
Gaul  was  settled  in  the  consulship  of  Porcius  and  Marchis, 
about  a  hundred  and  fifty-three  years  ago.  Twenty-three  years 
after  was  founded  Eporedia  among  the  Bagienni,27  when  Marius 
was  consul,  for  the  sixth  time,  with  Valerius  Flaccus.  Any 
colony  settled  since  that  time,  except  the  military  colonies,  I 
am  unable  to  recollect, 

XVI.  Though  this  little  portion  of  my  work  has  exceeded 

«  XV.  From  the  Lupercal]  A  Lupercali.    "The  Lupercal  was  a  grotto 
sacred  to  Pan,  near  the  Palatine  mount."    Krause. 

i  24  When  the  great  austerity  of  manners — prevc-nted  him,  etc.]  There  are 
various  readings  of  this  passage,  but  all  producing  much  the  same  sense. 
Krause  reads,  Cui  (Cassio)  id  demoliendo — restitere;  that  is,  "the  austerity 
of  manners,  and  Scipio  the  consul,  opposed  Cassius  by  pulling  it  (the  thea- 
ter) down." 

25  Salyes]  A  people  of  Gallia  Narbonenais. 

-:  Carthage  in  Africa]  A  colony  was  established  on  the  site  of  the  old  city 
by  the  Gracchi,  and  called  Colonia  Carthago. 

27  Bagienni]  Otherwise  called  Vagienni,  a  people  of  Liguria,  near  the 
source  of  the  Po. 


BOOK  I.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  -j-_'l 

the  limits  intended,  and  though  I  am  sensible  that  in  so  hasty 
a  composition,  which,  like  a  wheel  or  rapid  torrent,118  allows 
me  nowhere  to  make  a  stand,  I  ought  rather  to  omit  some 
things  t'mt  may  seem  necessary  than  to  introduce  any  that 
are  superfluous,  I  yet  can  not  refrain  from  noticing  a  point  on 
which  I  have  often  reflected,  and  on  which  I  could  never  arrive 
at  any  satisfactory  conclusion.  For  who  can  sufficiently  won- 
der, that  the  most  eminent  geniuses  in  every  art  have  agreed 
in  one  common  character,  and  have  fallen  within  one  period  of 
time  ;  and  that,  as  different  kinds  of  animals,  shut  up  in  a  fold 
or  other  inclosure,  continue  each  distinct  from  those  around  it, 
and  form  themselves  into  separate  bodies,  so  minds,  capable  of 
any  great  achievements,  have  formed  distinct  assemblages 
about  the  same  time  and  with  similar  effect  ?  One  age,  and 
that  not  extending  through  many  years,  gave  luster  to  tragedy 
by  the  works  of  those  great  authors,  men  animated  by  a  divine 
spirit,  j^Eschylus,  Sophocles,  and  Euripides.  One  age  produced 
the  Ancient  Comedy,  under  Cratinus,  Aristophanes,  and  Eupo- 
lis.  As  for  the  New  Comedy,  Menander,  with  Philemon  and 
Diphilus,  his  equals  in  age  rather  than  ability,  not  only  invented 
it  within  a  few  years,  but  left  works  in  it  beyond  imitation. 
The  distinguished  philosophers,  too,  deriving  their  knowledge 
from  the  lips  of  Socrates,  in  how  short  a  time  did  they  all, 
whom  I  have  a  little  before  enumerated,29  flourish  after  the 
death  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  !  And  in  oratory  what  splendor 
was  there  before  Isocrates,  or  after  the  death  of  his  hearers  and 
their  immediate  disciples  ?  So  crowded  were  they  into  a  short 
space  of  time,  that  all  who  were  worthy  of  being  remembered 
must  have  been  known  to  each  other. 

XVII.  Nor  has  this  peculiarity  occurred  more  among  the 
Greeks  than  among  the  Romans.  Roman  tragedy,  unless  we 
go  back  to  the  rudest  and  most  barbarous  efforts,  which  de- 
serve no  p:aise  but  as  attempts  at  invention,  subsists  wholly 
in  the  writings  of  Accius  and  his  cotemporaries.  The  agree- 
able sportiveness  of  Latin  humor  displayed  itself,  about  the 
same  time,  in  Csecilius,  Terence,  and  Afranius.30  As  for  the 

28  XVI.  Torrent]  Gurgitls.  The  words  ac  verlicis,  which  follow  this,  and 
•which  Ruhnken  and  Krause  think  a  mere  grloss,  I  have  omitted. 

89  Whom  I  have  a  little  before  enumerated]  Quoapauloanteenumeravimtta. 
In  some  part  of  the  book  which  is  now  lost. 

30  XVII.  Csecilius,  Terence,  and  Afranius]  Why  does  he  omit  Plautus  ? 
"I  must  suppose  either  that  the  name  of  Plautus  has  dropped  out  of  the 


422  VELLEIUS   PATRRCULUS.  BOOK  i. 

historians,  a  period  of  less  than  eighty  years  (even  if  we  in- 
clude Livy  in  the  age  of  the  earlier  writers)  produced  them  all, 
with  the  exception  of  Cato  and  some  old  and  obscure  annalists. 
Nor  did  the  assemblage  of  poets  extend  further  in  time,  either 
upward  or  downward.  With  respect  to  oratory,  forensic 
pleading,  and  the  perfect  beauty  of  prose  eloquence,  they  burst 
forth  complete  (to  say  nothing  of  Cato,  and  to  speak  with  due 
respect  for  Publius  Crassus,  Scipio,  Lselius,  the  Gracchi,  Fan- 
nius,  and  Servius  Galba)  under  Cicero,  who  was  the  coryphaeus 
in  his  art ;  as  of  all  other  orators  we  receive  pleasure  from  few, 
and  admire  none,  except  such  as  lived  in  his  time,  or  imme- 
diately succeeded  it.31  That  the  same  has  been  the  case  with 
regard  to  grammarians,  statuaries,  painters,  and  sculptors,83 
whoever  investigates  the  records  of  ages  will  easily  convince 
himself,  and  Avill  see  that  the  most  eminent  performances  in 
every  art  are  confined  within  very  narrow  limits  of  time. 

Of  this  concurrence  of  similar  geniuses  in  the  same  period, 
of  their  corresponding  devotion  to  like  pursuits,  and  their 
equality  of  progress,  I  often  inquire  for  the  causes,  but  find 
none  that  I  can  regard  as  satisfactory.  Some,  however,  I  dis- 
cover that  are  probable ;  among  which  are  the  following. 
Emulation  nourishes  genius  ;  and  at  one  time  envy,  at  another 
admiration,  kindles  a  spirit  of  imitation.  Any  art,  too,  which 
is  pursued  with  extreme  zeal,  will  soon  reach  the  height  of 
excellence ;  and  to  stand  still  on  the  summit  is  difficult ;  as, 
in  the  natural  course  of  things,  what  can  not  advance,  recedes. 
And  as  we  are  at  first  excited  with  ardor  to  overtake  those 
whom  we  think  our  superiors,  so,  when  we  once  despair  of 
surpassing  or  equaling  them,  our  zeal  flags  with  our  hope, 
ceases  to  pursue  what  it  can  not  attain,  and,  relinquishing  that 
object  as  already  pre-occupied,  turns  to  something  new.  De- 
text,  or,  what  seems  more  probable,  that  Paterculus  entertained  the  same 
opinion  of  Plautus  as  Horace  expresses',  Do  Arte  Poetica,  270,  and  therefore 
intentionally  omitted  him."  Krauze. 

31  Except  such  as  lived  in  his  time,  or  immediately  succeeded  it]  Nemi- 
nem — nisi  out  ab  illo  visum,  <wt  qui  ilium  viderit.    This  is  translated  accord- 
ing to  the  interpretation  of  Krause.    Those  who  were  visi  ab  illo  were  his 
cotemporaries  (some  of  them,  perhaps,  a  little  his  seniors),  with  whom  he 
lived,  as  it" were,  face  to  face;  those  qui  iUum  viderunt  were  the  men  of  the 
succeeding  generation,  who  were  just  old  enough  to  have  had  a  sight  of  him. 
Thus  Ovid  says  of  Virgil,  Virgihum  tantum  mdi, 

32  Statuaries — Sculptors]  Plastis — scalptaribus.    Plastes,  one  that  makes 
figures  of  any  soft  matter,  as  clay  •  scafytor,  or  sculptor,  one  who  works  with 
harder  material,  as  stone  or  wood. 


BOOKL  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  4...} 

clining  any  pursuit  in  which  we  can  not  arrive  at  eminence,  we 
endeavor  to  find  one  that  wili  allow  scope  for  our  exertions; 
and  the  consequence  is,  that  such  changes,  if  fiequent  and  un- 
steady, prove  the  greatest  obstacle  to  perfection. 

XVIII.  Our  wonder  may  well  be  transferred  from  ages  to 
cities.  One  city  in  Attica  was  distinguished  in  eloquence  for. 
a  greater  number  of  years,  and  for  more  achievements  in  it 
than  all  the  rest  of  Greece ;  so  that,  though  the  natives  of 
that  country  were  dispersed  through  its  different  states,  we 
might  suppose  its  genius  to  have  been  confined  entirely  within 
the  walls  of  Athens.  Nor  do  I  more  wonder  that  this  should 
have  been  the  case,  than  that  not  a  single  orator  of  Argos, 
Thebes,  or  Lacedsemon,  was  thought  worthy  of  notice  during 
his  life,  or  of  remembrance  after  his  death.  In  such  studies, 
these,  as  well  as  many  other  cities,  were' wholly  unproductive, 
except  that  the  single  muse  of  Pindar  conferred  some  degree 
of  luster  on  Thebes.  Alcman33  the  Lacedaemonians  falsely 
claim.  *  *  *  * 

M  XVIII.  Alcman]  He  was  a  native  of  Lydia,  and  brought  to  Laced«mon 
when  very  young,  as  a  slave. 


424  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  IT. 


BOOK  II. 

THE   ARGUMENT. 

DECLENSION  of  Roman  virtue  after  the  destruction  of  Carthage ;  wars  with 
Viriathus  and  Numantia,  I.  Acts  and  deatli  of  Tiberius  Gracchus.  II., 
III.  Aristonicus  defeated  ;  Numantia  overthrown ;  character  and  death 
of  Publius  Scipio,  IV.  Acts  of  Aulus  Brutus  in  Spain,  V.  Proceedings 
and  death  of  Gains  Gracchus,  VI.  Cruelty  of  Opimius,  VII.  Narbo  Mar- 
tius  founded;  Cato  condemned  for  extortion;  triumphs  of  the  Metelli 
and  Minutius,  VIII.  Eminent  Roman  orators  and  writers,  IX.  Severity 
of  the  censors;  family  of  the  Domitii,  X.  The  Jucrurthine  war:  the  acts 
of  Marius,  XL,  XII.  Ill-fortune  and  death  of  Drusus,  XIII.,  XIV.  The 
colony  of  Carthago ;  the  Italian  war,  XV.,  XVI.  The  civic  franchise 
granted  to  the  Italians;  character  of  Sylla,  XVII.  "War  with  Mithridates 
commenced;  nets  of  Sulpicius,  XVIII.  Civil  war  between  Marius  and 
Sylla,  XIX.  The  consul  Pompeius  murdered  by  the  soldiers;  proceed- 
ings of  Cinna,  XX.  Cinna  succeeds  in  recalling  Marius,  XXI.  Marius's 
proscription,  XXII.  Marius's  death  ;  success  of  Sylla  against  Mithridates, 
XXIII.  Deaths  of  Fimbria,  Lucilius,  and  Cinna,  XXIV.  Further  pro- 
ceedings of  Sylla,  XXV.,  XXVI.  Fate  of  Pontius  Telesinus,  and  of  the 
younger  Marius,  XXVII.  Sylla's  dictatorship  and  proscription,  XXVIII. 
Character  of  Pompey,  afterward  called  the  Great,  XXIX.  Death  of  Scr- 
torius;  triumphs  of  Metellus  and  Pompey;  war  witii  Spartacus,  XXX. 
Pompey  suppresses  the  pirates,  XXXI.,  XXXII.  Pompey  receives  the 
command  of  the  Mithridatic  war :  acts  of  Lucullus,  XXXIII.  Conquest 
of  Crete ;  conspiracy  of  Catiline,  XXXIV.  Character  of  Cato ;  deaths  of 
Catiline  and  the  other  conspirators,  XXXV.  Augustus  Caesar  born; 
learned  men  of  that  age,  XXXVI.  Tigraues  surrenders  to  Pompeyj 

XXXVII.  Names    of  Roman    provinces,    and    by  whom  conquered, 

XXXVIII,  XXXIX.    Pompey  conquers  Mithridates,  and  triumphs,  XL. 
Descent,  character,  and  actions  of  Julius  Cossar,  XLI.-XLIII.     First 
Triumvirate;  consulship  of  Caesar,  XL1V.   Of  Clodius,  Cicero,  and  Cato, 
XLV.    Caesar's  acts  in  Gaul ;  Crassus  killed  in  Parthia,  XLVI.    Further 
proceedings  of  Caesar ;  Clodius  slain  by  Milo,  XLVII.  Civil  war  between 
Caesar  and  Pompey.  XLVIII.-LII.    Death  of  Pompey,  LIII.  Caesar's  ac- 
tions in  Egypt,  Africa,  and  Spain,  LIV.,  LV.    Caesar's  triumphs  and 
death,  LVL,  LVII.    Proceedings  of  Brutus  and  Cicero,  LVIII.  Opening 
of  Caesar's  will ;  family  and  character  of  Augustus,  LIX.    Dissensions 
and  war  between  Caesar  and  Antony,  LX.,  LXL    Provinces  decree.d  to 
Brutus  and  Cassius  by  the  senate ;  Caesar  sliarhted  LXII.     Antony  joins 
the  army  of  Lepidus,  LXIII.    Death  of  Decitnus  Brutus ;  banishment  of 
Cicero,  LXTV.    The  second  Triumvirate,  LXV.     Another  proscription ; 
death  of  Cicero,  LXVI.     Conduct  of  the  Romans  ~  at  the  time  of  the 
proscription,  LXVII.    Of  Coalius  and  Milo;  of  the  clemency  of  Caesar, 


BOOK  n.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  425 

LXVIII.  Of  Dolabella,  Vatinius,  and  the  Ptedian  law,  LXIX.  Proceed- 
ings of  Brutus  and  Cassius;  they  are  slain  in  the  battle  of  Philipi'i, 
LXX.  Consequences  of  the  battle,  LXXI.,  LXX1I.  Of  Sextus  Poin- 
peius,  LXXIII.  Of  Antony,  Caesar,  and  Livia,  LXXIV.,  LXXV.  Of 
Cains  Velleius  and  Fulvia;  peace  between  Ctesar  and  Antony,  LXXVI. 
Peace  with  Sextus  Pompeius,  LXX\'II.  Antony  marries  Octavia,  Csesar's 
r-ister ;  Labienus  overthrown,  LXXVIII.  War  resumed  with  Sextns  Pom- 
peins;  Caesar  marries  Livia,  LXXIX.  Degradation  of  Lepidns,  LXXX. 
Cffisar  suppresses  a  mutiny  in  the  army,  LXXXI.  Antony  invades  Par- 
thia,  LXXX1I.  Of  Plancus,  LXXXIU.  Battle  of  Actium,  and  what  im- 
mediately followed,  LXXXIV.-LXXXVI.  Death  of  Antony,  LXXXVII. 
Conspiracy,  death,  and  character  of  Lepidus,  LXXXVIII.  Cajsar's  tri- 
umphs aud  plans  of  government,  LXXXIX.  Reduction  of  Spain  and 
Dalmatia,  XC.  Roman  ensigns  recovered  from  the  Partliinns,  XCI.  Of 
Sentius  Snturninus,  XCII.  Of  llarcellua  and  Aarrippa,  XCIII.  Expedi- 
tions of  Tiberius  and  Drnsns ;  death  of  Drusiis,  XCIV.-XCVII.  The 
Thracian  war,  XCVIII.  Tiberius  retires  to  Rhodes,  XCIX.  Hostilities 
resumed  in  Parthia  and  Germany ;  excesses  of  Julia,  C.  Caius  Csesar  in 
Parthia;  his  death,  CL,  CII.  Tiberius  and  Agrippa  adopted  by  Augus- 
tus.CIIL,  CIV.  Acts  of  Tiberius  in  Germany,  CV.-CIX.  Insurrection 
in  Dalmatia,  CX.  Proceedings  of  Tiberius  against  the  Dalmatians  and 
Pannonians ;  both  are  subdued,  CXI.-CXV.  Of  some  who  were  distin- 
guished in  this  war,  CXVI.  Loss  of  the  legions  in  Germany  under  Varsus, 
CXVII.  Of  Arminius;  death  of  Varsus,  CXVIIL,  CXIX.  Tiberius  con- 
ducts the  German  war ;  his  triumphs,  CXX.-CXXII.  Death  of  Augus- 
tus, ( 'XXIII.  Tiberius  succeeds  him,  CXXIV.  Mutiny  in  Germany  and 
Illyricum  suppressed,  CXXV.  Government  of  Tiberius,  CXXVI.  Of 
Seianus,  CXXVIL,  CXXVIII.  Observations  on  Tiberius,  CXXIX., 
CXXX.  Prayer  for  the  prosperity  of  Rome,  CXXXI. 

I.  THE  former  Seipio  had  opened  for  the  Romans  the  way 
to  power ;  the  latter1  opened  that  to  luxury.  For  when  their 
dread  of  Carthage  was  at  an  end,  and  their  rival  in  empire  was 
removed,  the  nation,  deserting  the  cause  of  virtue,  went  over, 
not  gradually,  but  with  precipitation,  to  that  of  vice ;  the  old 
rules  of  conduct  were  renounced,  and  new  introduced  ;  and  the 
people  turned  themselves  from  activity  to  slumber,  from  arms 
to  pleasure,  from  business  to  idleness.  Then  it  was  that  Seipio 
built  porticos  on  the  Capitol ;  that  Metellus  erected  those  before 
mentioned  ;2  and  that  Cnseus  Octavius  raised  that  pre-eminently 
delightful  one  in  the  Circus ;  and  private  luxury  soon  followed 
public  magnificence. 

There  soon  succeeded  a  lamentable  and  disgraceful  war  in 
Spain,  conducted  by  Viriathus,  a  captain  of  banditti ;  which, 
though  it  proceeded  with  various  changes  of  fortune,  was 
oftener  adverse  than  favorable  to  the  Romans.  And  Viria- 

1  The  former  Seipio — the  latter]  The  former  was  Seipio  Africanus  Major, 
the  conqueror  of  Hannibal ;  the  latter  Seipio  Arricanus  Minor,  who  destroyed 
Carthage  and  Numantia,  and  who  is  mentioned  above,  i.  15. 

2  Before  mentioned]  See  i.  2. 


426  VELLEIUS  PATKRCUJATS.  BOOK  n. 

thus,  rather  through  the  treachery  than  valor  of  Servilius 
Csepio,  being  killed,  a  still  more  violent  war  with  Numantia 
burst  forth.  This  city  never  had  under  arms  more  than  ten 
thousand  of  its  inhabitants,  yet,  whether  from  the  obstinacy 
of  their  spirit,  the  inexperience  of  our  generals,  or  the  caprice 
of  fortune,  it  compelled  both  Pompeius,  a  man  of  great  repu- 
tation (the  first  of  the  name  who  held  the  consulship),  to  sign 
a  treaty  of  peace  on  most  dishonorable  terms,  and  the  consul 
Mancinus  Hostilius  to  make  another  not  less  mean  and  dis- 
graceful. Interest  secured  Pompey  from  punishment;  but 
the  modesty  of  Mancinus,  by  shrinking  from  no  penalty,3  led 
to  his  being  surrendered  by  heralds  to  the  enemy,  stripped  of 
his  robes,  and  with  his  hands  tied  behind  his  back.  But  the 
Numantines,  acting  like  the  people  of  Caudimn  in  former  times, 
refused  to  receive  him,  saying  that  a  public  violation  of  faith 
was  not  to  be  expiated  by  the  blood  of  an  individual. 

II.  This  surrender  of  Mancinus  excited  violent  dissensions  in 
the  state.  For  Tiberius  Gracchus  (son  of  a  most  illustrious  and 
eminent  citizen,  and  grandson,  on  his  mother's  side,  of  Publius 
Africanus),  who  had  been  quaestor  at  the  time,  and  by  whose 
encouragement  that  treaty  had  been  concluded,  was  both 
grievously  offended  at  the  annulling  of  it,  and  entertained 
apprehensions  for  himself 'of  a  similar  sentence  or  punishment ; 
from  which  causes,  though  in  his  other  conduct  a  man  of  tho 
strictest  integrity,  endowed  with  the  highest  abilities,  and  pure 
and  upright  in  his  intentions,  in  short,  adorned  with  every  vir- 
tue of  which  man  when  perfected  both  by  nature  and  cultiva- 
tion is  susceptible,  he,  on  being  appointed  tribune  of  the  people 
in  the  consulate  of  Publius  Mutius  Sc»3vola  and  Lucius  Calpur- 
nius,  a  hundred  and  sixty-two  years  ago,  deserted  the  worthy 
party,  and  by  promising  the  rights  of  citizens  to  all  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Italy,  and  proposing  at  the  same  time  agrarian  laws, 
threw  all  things,  while  all  men  were  eager  to  secure  a  footing 
in  the  state,4  into  the  utmost  confusion,  and  brought  the  Com- 

3  Shrinking  from  no  penalty,  etc.]  Non  recmando  perduxit  hue,  etc.]  The 
text  is  here  so  obscure  that  Euhnken  says,  "  Ego  nihil  hie  intelligo,"  and 
supposes  that  some  words  are  lost.    On  Caudium,  see  Floras,  i.  16. 

4  II.  All  men  were  eager  to  secure  a  footing  in  the  state]  Omnibus  statum 
concupiscentibus.  Such  is  the  way  in  which  Krause  and  Orellius  understand 
this  phrase.    Lipsius  said  that  there  was  no  sense  in  it,  and  conjectured 
omnwus  (so.  legions  istis  agrariis)  statum  concutientibus,  which  Gruter  and 
Heinsius  approved,  and  Kuhnkeu  admitted  into  his  text.     But  concupiecen- 
Hbw  seems  to  have  been  too  hastily  condemned  by  these  critics.     "Statum 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  427 

monwealth  into  imminent  danger,  of  which  it  was  for  some  time 
doubtful  what  would  be  the  event.  Octavius,  one  of  his  col- 
leagues, who  stood  up  in  defense  of  the  public  good,  he  com- 
pelled to  resign  his  office,  and  procured  the  election  of  himself, 
his  father-in-law  Appius,  who  had  been  consul,  and  his  brother 
Gracchus,  then  very  young,  as  commissioners  to  distribute  lands, 
and  settle  colonies. 

III.  On  this,  Publius,  Scipio  Nasica,  grandson  of  him  who 
lial  been  pronounced  by  the  senate  the  best  man  in  the  state, 
son  of  him  who  in  his  censorship  had  built  the  porticos  to  the 
Capitol,  and  great  grandson  of  Cnaeus  Scipio,  a  man  of  very 
illustrious  character,  uncle  of  Publius  Africanus;  this  Scipio,  I 
say,  though  not  invested  with  any  military  or  public  office,  and 
though  he  was  cousin  to  Tiberius  Gracchus,  yet,  preferring  his 
country  to  family  connections,  and  considering  whatever  injured 
the  public  as  hurtful  to  each  individual  (for  which  merits  he 
was  afterward,  in  his  absence,  created  chief  pontiff;  the  first 
instance  of  the  kind),  wrapped  the  lappet  of  his  gown  round 
his  left  arm,  and  mounted  to  the  upper  part  of  the  Capitol ; 
where,  standing  on  the  summit  of  the  steps,  he  called  on  all 
that  desired  the  safety  of  the  Commonwealth  to  follow  him. 
Immediately  the  chief  of  the  nobility,  the  senate,  the  greater 
and  better  part  of  the  equestrian  body,  and  such  plebeians  as 
were  unallured  by  the  pernicious  views  of  the  Gracchi,  rushed 
together  against  Gracchus,  who,  with  some  bands  of  his  parti- 
sans, was  standing  in  the  court,  haranguing  a  concourse  of 
people  from  almost  every  part  of  Italy.  Betaking  himself  to 
flight,  he  was  struck,  as  he  was  running  down  the  descent  from 
the  Capitol,  with  a  piece  of  a  broken  bench,  and  thus  prematurely 
closed  a  life  which  he  might  have  passed  with  the  greatest 
honor.  This  was  the  commencement  of  civil  bloodshed,  and  of 
impunity  to  the  sword,  in  Rome.  Henceforward  right  was 
oppressed  by  strength  ;  the  more  powerful  were  the  more  highly 
esteemed  ;  disputes  between  citizens,  which  were  formerly  settled 
on  amicable  terms,  were  decided  by  the  sword ;  and  wars  were 
undertaken,  not  for  honorable  reasons,  but  from  prospects  of 
gain.  Nor  can  this  excite  our  wonder ;  for  examples  do  not 
stop  where  they  begin  ;  but  if  allowed  to  spread  through  a 

habere,"  says  Krause,  "  est  vel  civitatem,  vel  bona  certa,  agros  scilicet,  ha- 
bere,  et  sic  esse  aliquid  in  republica."  So,  he  adds,  the  proscribed  are  said, 
c.  72,  nuUum  atatum  Tvibere. 


428  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

channel  ever  so  narrow,  make  way  for  themselves  to  any  extent ; 
and,  when  men  have  once  deviated  from  the  right  path,  they 
are  hurried  headlong  into  wrong ;  and  no  one  thinks  that  dis- 
honorable to  himself  which  is  gainful  to  another. 

IV.  During  the  course  of  these  transactions  in  Italy,  Aris- 
tonicus,  who,  on  the  death  of  king  Attalus,  by  whom  Asia  had 
been  bequeathed  to  the  people  of  Rome  (as  Bithynia  was  after- 
wards bequeathed  to  them  by  Nicomedes),  pretending  to  be 
sprung  from  the  royal  family,  had  seized  the  government  by 
force  of  arms,  was  conquered,  and  led  in  triumph  by  Marcus 
Perperna,  and  afterward  put  to  death  by  Manius  Aquilius,  for 
having,  at  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  killed  the  proconsul 
Crassus  Mucianus,  a  man  eminent  for  his  knowledge  of  the  law, 
as  he  was  on  his  journey  out  of  the  country. 

After  so  many  defeats  experienced  at  Numantia,  Publius 
Scipio  Africanus  ^Emilianus,  the  destroyer  of  Carthage,  being 
elected  a  second  time  consul,  and  sent  into  Spain,  supported  in 
that  country  the  character  for  conduct  and  success  that  he  had 
acquired  in  Africa,  and  within  a  year  and  three  months  after  his 
arrival  leveled  Numantia,  afrer  surrounding  and  shaking  it  with 
batteries  to  the  ground.  Nor  did  any  man  of  any  nation,  be- 
fore his  time,  consecrate  his  name  to  perpetual  remembrance,  by 
a  more  remarkable  destruction  of  cities  ;  for,  by  the  overthrow 
of  Carthage  and  Numantia,  he  freed  us  from  the  dread  of  the 
one,  and  from  the  dishonor  that  we  suffered  from  the  other.  It 
was  this  Scipio,  who,  being  asked  by  Carbo,  a  tribune,  what  he 
thought'of  the  killing  of  Tiberius  Gracchus,  replied,  that  if  he 
had  any  thought  of  usurping  the  government,  he  was  justly 
slain ;  and,  when  the  whole  assembly  cried  out  against  him,  he 
exclaimed,  "  After  having  so  often  heard,  without  fear,  the  shouts 
of  armed  enemies,  how  can  I  be  alarmed  at  the  cries  of  such  as 
you,  to  whom  Italy  is  but  a  step-mother  ?"5 

Returning,  from  a  short  absence,  into  the  city,  in  the  consu- 
late of  Manius  Aquilius  and  Caius  Sempronius,  a  hundred  and 
'  fifty-eight  years  ago,  after  his  two  consulships  and  two  triumphs, 
and  after  having  removed  two  objects  of  terror  to  his  country, 

1  IV.  To  whom  Italy  is  but  a  step-mother]  Quorum  noverca  eat  Italia.  The 
idle  and  dissolute  crowd  that  wandered  about  the  city,  many  of  whom  wero 
not  natives  of  the  country,  were  not  considered  or  valued  by  Italy  as  her 
children,  but  regarded  by  her  with  the  disdain  of  a  step-mother.  The  ori- 
gin of  the  expression,  as  Wesseling  pointed  out,  is  in  Plato's  Menexeuus. 
Oomp.  Val  Max.,  vi.  2,  3. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  429 

ft 

lie  was  found  one  morning  dead  in  his  bed,  and  marks  of  stran- 
gulation were  observed  on  his  neck.  Yet  concerning  the  death 
of  so  great  a  man  no  inquiry  was  made ;  and  the  body  of  him 
by  whose  services  Rome  had  raised  her  head  above  the  world, 
was  carried  to  its  burial-place  with  the  head  vailed."  Whether 
he  died  a  natural  death,  as  most  people  think,  or  came  to  his 
end,  as  some  have  asserted,  by  treachery,  he  certainly  passed  a 
life  of  such  honor  that  it  is  eclipsed  by  none  before  his  time  ex- 
cept that  of  his  grandfather.  He  died  at  about  fifty-four  years 
of  age.  If  any  one  questions  this,  let  him  look  back  to  Scipio's 
first  consulship,  to  which  he  was  elected  at  the  age  of  thirty-six, 
and  doubt  no  more. 

V.  Before  the  destruction  of  Numantia,  the  military  efforts 
of  Decimus  Brutus  in   Spain  had  been  remarkable;  so  that, 
having  made  his  way  through  all  the  nations  of  that  country, 
subdued  vast  multitudes  of  men,  and  a  great  number  of  cities, 
and  visited  places  of  which  the  names  had  scarcely  been  heard, 
he  merited  the  surname  of  Gallrecus.     A  few  years  before  him, 
military  obedience,  under  Quintus  Macedonicus,  was  enforced  in 
that  country  with  such  severity  that,  while  he  was  besieging  a 
city  named  Contrebia,  he  ordered  five  legionary  cohorts,  which 
had  been  repulsed  in  an  attack  on  a  very  steep  place,  to  mount 
it  again  immediately.     Though  all  the  soldiers  made  their  wills 
in  preparation  for  action,  as  if  going  to  certain  destruction,  the 
obstinate  general  was  not  deterred  from  his  purpose,  and  saw 
his  men  return  with  victory,  whom  he  had  sent  out  in  expecta- 
tion of  death.     So  great  was  the  effect  of  shame  blended  with 
fear,  and  of  hope  springing  from  despair.     He  gained  much 
credit  for  courage  and  strictness ;  but  Fabius  JEmilianus  showed 
in  Spain  the  most  noble  example  of  discipline. 

VI.  After  an  interval  of  ten  years,  the  same  rage  which  had 
animated  Tiberius  Gracchus  seized  his  brother  Caius,  who,  re- 
sembling him  in  all  his  virtues  as  well  as  in  his  want  of  judg- 
ment, was  in  abilities  and  eloquence  far  his  superior  ;  and  who, 
though  he  might  without  the  least  anxiety  of  mind,  have  be- 
come the  very  first  man  in  the  state,  yet,  prompted  by  a  desire 
either  of  revenging  his  brother's  death,  or  of  preparing  a  war 
for  himself  to  regal  power,  he  entered  on  a  tribuneship  of  simi- 

•  With  the  her.'l  vailorl]  Vdatn  mpite.  "  Ohvoluto  capite  elatus  cst,  m 
liver  in  ore  apparerct."  Aurcl.  Viet.,  58.  This  seems  to  have  been  cus- 
tomary. 


430  VELLEIUS  PATBRCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

* 

lar  character  to  that  of  his  brother,  forming  projects,  however, 
much  more  extensive  and  influential.  He  designed  to  extend, 
the  civic  franchise  to  all  the  Italians,  as  far  almost  as  the  Alps ; 
to  divide  the  lands,  and  to  prohibit  every  citizen  from  possess- 
ing more  than  five  hundred  acres;  a  restriction  which  had  once 
been  enjoined  by  the  Licinian  law.  He  likewise  wished  to  lay 
new  taxes  on  imported  goods,  to  fill  the  provinces  with  new 
colonies,  to  transfer  the  privilege  of  being  judges7  from  the  sen- 
ators to  the  knights,  and  to  distribute  corn  to  the  populace ;  in 
short,  he  was  resolved  to  leave  nothing  quiet  and  undisturbed, 
nothing  in  the  condition  in  which  he  found  it.  He  even  pro- 
cured himself  to  be  re-elected  tribune.  But  the  consul  Lucius 
Opimius,  who  in  his  praetorship  had  demolished  Fregellse,  at- 
tacked him  with  an  armed  force,  and  put  him  to  death,  and  to- 
gether with  him  Fulvius  Flaccus,  a  man  who  had  been  consul, 
and  had  triumphed,  but  was  equally  inclined  to  noxious  meas- 
ures ;  and  whom  Caius  Gracchus  had  nominated  a  commission- 
er in  the  room  of  his  brother  Tiberius,  and  associated  with  him- 
self to  be  a  sharer  in  his  king-like  power.  One  particular  in 
Opimius's  conduct  is  mentioned  deserving  of  reprobation,  name- 
ly, that  he  offered  a  reward  for  the  head,  not  merely  of  Grac- 
chus, but  of  any  turbulent  Roman  citizen,  promising  its  weight 
in  gold.  Flaccus,  while  he  was  collecting  a  party  in  arms  on  the 
Aventine,  with  intent  to  make  resistance,  was  killed,  together  with 
his  elder  son ;  Gracchus,  attempting  to  escape,  and  being  nearly 
overtaken  by  a  party  sent  by  Opimius,  held  out  his  neck  to  Euporus 
his  slave,  who  slew  himself  with  the  same  fortitude  with  which  he 
relieved  his  master.  Pomponius,  a  Roman  knight,  showed  on 
that  day  a  singular  degree  of  attachment  to  Gracchus  ;  for,  like 
Codes,  he  withstood  his  enemies  on  the  bridge,  and  then  run  him- 
self through  with  his  sword.  The  body  of  Caius  Gracchus,  with 
great  barbarity  on  the  part  of  the  victors,  was  thrown  into  the 
Tiber,  as  had  previously  been  the  case  with  that  of  Tiberius. 

VII.  Such  was  the  latter  part  of  the  lives,  and  such  the 
deaths,  of  the  sons  of  Tiberius  Gracchus,  the  grandsons  of  Pub- 
lius  Scipio  Africanus,  men  who  made  a  bad  use  of  the  best 
talents,  and  who  died  while  their  mother,  the  daughter  of  Afri- 
canus, was  still  alive.  Had  these  men  fixed  their  desires  0:1 
any  degree  of  eminence  compatible  with  civil  liberty  (whatever 

7  VT.  To  transfer  the  privilege  of  being  judges,  etc.]  See  Pseudo-Sullust, 
first.  Epistle  to  Caesar,  c.  3,  8. 


BOOK  II.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  431 

it  was  that  they  sought  to  gaia  by  their  turbulent  proceedings), 
the  public  would  have  granted  it  without  an  effort  on  their  part. 
To  the  severity  before  mentioned,  was  added  an  act  of  unparallel- 
ed barbarity.  A  youth  of  uncommon  beauty,  in  the  eighteenth 
year  of  his  age,  son  of  Fulvius  Flaccus,  but  innocent  of  his  fa- 
ther's offenses,  being  sent  to  negotiate  terms  of  accommodation, 
was  ordered  to  be  put  to  death  by  Opimius.  A  Tuscan  sooth- 
sayer, his  friend,  seeing  the  lad  weep  as  he  was  dragged  to  pris- 
on, said  to  him,  "  Why  do  you  not  rather  act  thus  ?"  And  im- 
mediately dashing  his  head  against  a  stone  pillar  at  the  prison- 
door,  beat  out  his  brains,  and  expired. 

Examinations  of  the  friends  and  clients  of  the  Gracchi  were 
soon  after  held,  and  with  great  severity.  Hence,  when  Opimius, 
who,  in  other  matters  was  upright  and  respected,  was  afterward 
condemned  on  a  trial  before  the  people,  no  commiseration  was 
shown  him  by  his  countrymen,  through  their  recollection  of  his 
former  want  of  feeling.  The  same  general  odium  afterward  de- 
servedly crushed,  under  trials  before  the  people,  Rutilius  and  Pop- 
illius,  who,  being  consuls  at  the  time,  had  acted  cruelly  toward  the 
friends  of  Tiberius  Gracchus.  Among  affairs  of  such  importance 
I  shall  mention  one  of  which  the  knowledge  is  of  little  conse- 
quence. This  is  the  Opimius,  from  whom,  when  he  was  consul, 
the  celebrated  Opimian  wine  was  named.  That  there  is  none 
of  it  at  present  may  be  inferred  from  the  distance  of  time,  for 
between  his  consulate  and  yours,  Marcus  Vinicius,  a  hundred 
and  fifty-one  years  have  elapsed.  The  conduct  of  Opimius  met 
the  less  approbation,  because  his  object  was  revenge  from  per- 
sonal enmity ;  and  his  severity  seemed  to  have  been  inflicted  to 
satisfy,  not  public  justice,  but  private  hatred. 

VIII.  [Soon  after,  in  the  consulate  of  Marcius  and  Porcius, 
the  colony  of  Narbo  Marcius  was  settled.8]  Let  the  strictness 
of  judicial  proceedings  in  those  times  be  here  recorded.  Caius 
Cato,  who  had  been  consul,  and  who  was  grandson  of  Marcus 
Cato,  and  son  of  the  sister  of  Africanus,  was  convicted  of  extor- 
i  (ion  committed  in  Macedonia,  and  fined  eighteen  sestertia  ;9  for 
judges  then  considered  the  inclination  of  the  man  to  dishonesty 
rather  than  the  magnitude  of  the  offense,  and  estimated  deeds, 
in  general,  by  intention,  regarding  rather  what  had  been  done 
than  to  how  great  an  extent.  About  the  same  time,  the  two 

8  VIII.  The  sentence  inclosed  in  brackets  is  evidently  out  of  place,  as 
Burman  and  Krause  remark. 
»  Eighteen  sestertia]  About  159Z.  7s.  (>d. 


432  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  ir. 

Metelli,  brothers,  triumphed  on  one  day.  Another  instance  of 
distinction  not  less  honorable,  and  hitherto  unparalleled,  was,  that 
two  sons  of  Fulvius  Flaccus,  him  who  had  taken  Capua,  were 
joined  together  in  the  consulship.  One  of  them  indeed  had 
been  adopted,  and  received  into  the  family  of  Manlius  Acidinus. 
As  to  the  two  Metelli,  who  were  censors  together,  they  were 
cousins-german,  not  brothers ;  the  circumstance  of  two  full  bro- 
thers being  united  in  office  fell  to  the  lot  of  none  but  the  Scipios.10 
At  this  time  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones  came  across  the  Rhine, 
and  soon  made  themselves  notorious  by  the  calamities  that  they 
brought  on  us  and  on  themselves.  At  the  same  time,  there  was 
celebrated  a  briliant  triumph  of  Miriucius,  him  who  built  tho 
porticos  now  so  much  admired,  over  the  Scordisci. 

IX.  During  this  period  flourished  those  eminent  orators 
Scipio  JEmilianus,  Laelius,  Servius  Galba,  the  two  Gracchi,  Caius 
Fannius,  Papi:ius  Carbo,  and,  above  all,  Lucius  Crassus  and 
Marcus  Antonius.  Nor  must  we  omit  Metellus  Numidicus,  or 
Scaurus.  These,  in  time  as  well  as  genius,  were  followed  by 
Caius  Caesar  Strabo  and  Publius  Sulpicius.  As  to  Quintus 
Mucius,  he  was  more  noted  for  his  knowledge  of  the  law  than 
for  eloquence.  During  the  same  age  appeared  the  bright  genius 
of  Afranius  in  comedy,  and  those  of  Pacuvius  and  Attius  in 
tragedy  ;  geniuses  who  rise  into  competition  with  the  spirit  of  tho 
Greeks.  Then  were  displayed,  too,  the  powers  of  Ennius,11  who 
claims  for  his  works  an  honorable  place  with  theirs  ;  for,  though 
they  wrote  with  more  correctness,  he  seems  to  have  had  the  great- 
er share  of  energy.  A  distinguished  name  was  likewise  acquired 
by  Lucilius,  who  in  the  Nurnaniine  war  had  served  in  the  caval- 
ry under  Publius  Africanus.  At  the  same  lime  Jugurtha  and 
Marius,  then  both  young,  learned  in  the  same  camp  under  Afri- 
canus that  skill  which  they  were  afterward  to  practice  in  op- 
posite camps.  Sisenna  the  historian  was  then  young,  but  some 
years  after,  at  a  more  advanced  age,  published  his  history  of 
the  civil  wars,  and  those  of  Sylla.  Coelius  was  prior  to  Sisenna  ; 
coeval  with  him  were  Rutilius,  Claudius  Quadrigarius,  and  Val- 
erius Autias.  We  must  not,  however,  forget  that  Pomporiiur> 
lived  in  this  ngc,  a  writer  admired  for  his  thoughts,  though 

10  Tho  Scipios]  Tho  office  in  which  the  Scipios  were  united  was  the  seclilc- 
ship,  as  Krausc  says,  who  supposes  that  some  words  to  that  effect  have  been 
lost  out  of  the  text. 

11  IX.  Of  Ennius]  The  name  of  Ennitis  lias  heon  supplied  in  the  texts  of 
liuhnkcu  and  Krausc  from  a  conjecture  of  Ileinrtius. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  433 

ruile  in  language,  and  chiefly  deserving  notice  for  the  novelty 
of  what  he  invented.1* 

X.  Let  us  here  record  a  severe  act  of  the  censors  Cassiua 
Longinus  and  Caepio,  who,  a  hundred  and  fifty-five  years  ago, 
summoned  before  them  an  augur,  ^Emilius  Lepidus,  because  he 
rented  a  house  at  six  sestertia.13  At  present,  if  any  person  lived 
at  so  low  a  rent,  he  would  scarcely  be  acknowledged  as  a  sen- 
ator :  so  soon  do  people  proceed  from  the  reasonable  to  the  un- 
reasonable, from  the  unreasonable  to  the  vicious,  from  the  vicious 
to  the  extravagant.  During  this  period  a  remarkable  victory 
was  gained  by  Domitius  over  the  Arverni,  and  another  by 
Fabius  over  the  Allobroges.  Fabius,  who  was  grandson  of 
Paul  us,  acquired  from  his  success  the  surname  of  Allobrogicus. 
Here  we  may  observe  a  peculiar  kind  of  happiness  attending 
the  Domitian  family,  which  was  highly  distinguished,  though 
confined  to  a  small  number  Before  the  present  Cnsus  Domi- 
tius, a  youth  of  most  remarkable  goodness  of  disposition,  there 
were  seven  of  that  family,  the  only  sons  of  their  respective  pa- 
rents, who  all  arrived  at  the  consulship  and  priesthood,  and  al- 
most all  at  the  honors  of  a  triumph. 

XL  The  Jugurthine  war  was  then  conducted  by  Quintus 
Metellus,  a  commander  inferior  to  no  one  of  the  age.  Under 
him  acted,  as  lieutenant-general,  Caius  Marius,  whom  we 
mentioned  above,  a  man  of  mean  birth,  coarse  and  rough  in 
his  manners,  but  of  strict  temperance,11  who,  in  proportion  as 
he  was  excellent  in  war,  was  fatal  to  peace.  He  was  immoder- 
ately eager  for  glory,  his  ambition  was  insatiable,  his  passions 
ungovernable,  so  that  he  was  never  at  rest.  By  disseminating, 
through  farmers  of  the  revenue,  and  others  who  traded  in 
Africa,  insinuations  against  Metellus,  as  being  dilatory  in  his 
operations,  and  purposely  protracting  the  war  to  the  third  year, 
as  well  as  invectives  against  the  natural  pride  of  the  nobles, 
and  their  ambition  to  continue  in  posts  of  power,  he  succeeded, 
after  obtaining  leave  of  absence  to  come  to  Rome,  in  procuring 
his  election  to  the  consulship,  and  getting  the  management  of 

i*  "What  he  invented]  He  was  an  eminent  -writer  of  the  Fabula  Atel- 
ktncE,  but  not  the  inventor  of  that  kind  of  composition.  But  perhaps  he 
was  the  first  that  gave  them  any  regularity  of  form. 

13  X.  Six  sestertia]  About  53Z.  2*.  6d. 

14  XI.  Of  strict  temperance]    Vita  sanctm.    This  is,  as  Krause  observes, 
evidently  the  sense.     SoCrassus,  in  c.  46,  is  said  to  be  sanctissimusimmu- 
n.'xqrite  wluptatibm.    Marius  is  called  by  Sallust,  Jug.,  c.  63,  lultidlnls  atqut 
dlcli'uiratn  victvr. 

19 


434  VELLEIUS   TATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

the  war,  now  nearly  terminated  by  Metellus,  who  had  twice 
routed  Jugurtha  in  the  field,  intrusted  to  himself.  Nevertheless, 
the  triumph  of  Metellus  was  exceedingly  magnificent,  and  the 
surname  of  Numidicus,  which  he  had  well  earned  by  his  merits 
in  the  field,  was  conferred  upon  him.  As  we  previously  noticed 
the  splendid  fortune  of  the  Domitian  family,  we  may  here  men- 
tion that  of  the  Caecilian,  for  within  about  twelve  years  of  this 
time  there  were  above  twelve  Metelli  either  consuls  or  censors, 
or  who  enjoyed  triumphs.  Hence  it  would  appear  that  the  for- 
tune of  families,  like  that  of  cities  and  empires,  flourishes,  fades, 
and  decays. 

XII.  Caius  Marius,  at  this  early  time,  had  Lucius  Sylla  con- 
nected with  him  in  quality  of  quaestor,  as  if  from  some  precau- 
tion of  the  fates,16  and  having  sent  him  embassador  to  king 
Bocchus,  received,  through  his  means,  king  Jugurtha  as  a 
prisoner;  an  event  which  took  place  a  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
years  ago.  Being  elected  consul  a  second  time,  and  returning 
to  Rome,  he  led  Jugurtha  in  triumph  on  the  first  of  January, 
the  day  on  which  his  second  consulship  commenced.  As  the 
overwhelming  force  of  the  German  tribes,  the  Cimbri  and 
Teutones  mentioned  above,  had  vanquished  and  put  to  flight  in 
Gaul  the  consuls  Caepio  and  Manlius,  as  well  as  Carbo  and 
Silanus  previously,  and  had  dispersed  their  armies,  and  killed 
Aurelius  Scaurus  the  consul,  as  well  as  other  leaders  of  great 
reputation,  the  Roman  people  deemed  that  no  commander  was 
better  qualified  than  Marius  to  repel  such  formidable  enemies. 
Thenceforward  consulships  multiplied  on  him.  His  third  was 
spent  in  preparations  for  the  war,  and  in  the  same  year  Cnaeus 
Domidus,  a  tribune  of  the  people,  got  a  law  passed,  that  the 
people  should  appoint  priests,  who  were  formerly  elected  by  the 
sacerdotal  body.  In  his  fourth  lie  engaged  the  Teutones,  at 
Aquce  Sextice,  beyond  the  Alps,  and  in  two  successive  days 
slew  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  of  them,  and  utterly  reduced 
their  nation.  In  his  fifth,  he  himself,  and  the  proconsul  Quin- 
tus  Lutatius  Catulus,  met  the  Cimbri  on  what  are  called  the 
Raudian  plains,  on  this  side  of  the  Alps,  and  put  an  end  to  the 
war  by  a  most  successful  battle,  killing  or  taking  above  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men.  By  these  victories  Marius  seems  to  have 

15  XII.  From  some  precaution  of  the  fates]  Ut  prwcavenlilws  fails.  As 
if  the  fates,  by  uniting  them  together  at  this  time,  had  been  anxious  to  pre- 
vent the  discord  that  afterward  raged  between  them.  Krause. 


BOOK  IL  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  435 

deserved  that  his  country  should  not  regret  his  birth ;  and  to 
have  made  amends  by  his  services  for  the  evils  that  he  brought 
upon  it.  The  sixth  was  conferred  on  him  as  a  reward  for  his 
merits.  Yet  must  not  this  consulship  be  defrauded  of  its  due 
share  of  praise,  for,  during  the  course  of  it,  the  consul  re- 
pressed, with  an  armed  force,  the  excesses  of  Servilius,  Glaucia, 
and  Saturninus  Apuleius,  who,  maintaining  themselves  in  office, 
were  inflicting  deep  wounds  on  the  constitution,  and  dispersing 
the  assemblies  of  the  people  with  violence  and  bloodshed ;  and 
he  at  last  put  those  pestilent  disturbers  to  death  in  the  Curia 
Ilotilia.16 

XIII.  At  the  end  of  a  few  succeeding  years,  Marcus  Livius 
Drusus  entered  on  the  office  of  tribune  ;  a  man  of  the  noblest 
birth,  the  greatest  eloquence,  and  the  strictest  purity  of  life ; 
but  who,  in  all  his  undertakings,  was  more  distinguished  by 
ability  and   good   intention   than   by  success.     He  formed  a 
design   of  restoring  to  the  senate  its  ancient  dignity,  and  of 
transferring  from  the  knights  to  that  body  the  right  of  being 
judges ;  because  when  the  knights,  by  the   Sempronian  laws, 
were  invested  with  that  authority,  they  had  treated  with  cruel 
severity  many  of  the  most  illustrious  and  most  innocent  citizens ; 
and  in  particular  had   brought  to  trial  for  extortion   Publius 
Rutilius,  a  man  distinguished  for  virtue  not  only  above  his  own, 
but  above  any  age,  and,  to  the  exceeding  great  grief  of  the 
public,  had  condemned  him  to  pay  a  penalty.     But  in  those 
very  efforts  which  he  made  in  favor  of  the  senate,  he  found  the 
senate  itself  opposed  to  him.     For  they  did   not  perceive  that 
whatever  he  brought  forward  in  favor  of  the   plebeians  was 
intended  to   allure  and   attract  the  multitude,  in   order  that, 
being  gratified  in  smaller  matters,  they  might  consent  to  others 
of  greater  importance.     Such,  indeed,  was  the  fate  of  Diusus, 
that  the  senate  favored  the   injurious  proceedings  of  his  col- 
leagues more  than   his  own  excellent  designs,  rejecting  with 
scorn  the  honor  offered  by  him,  while  they  submitted  patiently 
to  the  wrong  done  them  by  the  others ;  looking,  in  short,  with 
envy  on  his  very  exalted  reputation,  and  with  indulgence  on  the 
mean  characters  of  his  opponents. 

XIV.  When  such  well-intended  plans  were  badly  received, 
the  purpose  of  Drusus  was  changed,  and  he  resolved  to  extend 
the  civic  franchise  to  all  Italy.     As  he  was  taking  measures  for 

«  Curiue  were  houses  of  assembly  for  the  wards  (curias)  of  the  city. 


436  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

this  purpose,  on  coming  home  one  day  from  the  forum,  sur- 
rounded by  the  immense  disorderly  crowd  that  constantly 
attended  him,  he  was  stabbed  in  the  court-yard  of  his  own 
house  with  a  kuife,  which  was  left  sticking  in  his  side,  and 
within  a  few  hours  expired.  While  he  was  drawing  almost  his 
last  breath,  he  uttered  an  expression,  as  he  looked  on  the 
crowd  standing  round  and  lamenting  over  him,  very  consonant 
to  his  inward  feelings.  "  My  relations  and  friends,"  said  he, 
"  will  the  Commonwealth  ever  again  have  a  citizen  like  me  ?" 
Thus  ended  the  life  of  this  illustrious  man.  One  incident 
which  marks  the  goodness  of  his  disposition  must  not  be 
omitted.  When  he  was  building  a  house  on  the  Palatine 
Mount,  on  the  spot  where  that  stands  which  formerly  was 
Cicero's,  afterward  Censorinus's,  and  now  belongs  to  Statilius 
Sisenna,  and  \he  architect  offered  to  construct  it  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  would  be  proof  against  all  overlookers,  no  one 
being  able  even  to  cast  a  glance  into  it,  "  Rather,"  replied  he, 
"  if  you  have  such  skill,  construct  my  house  in  such  a  manner, 
that  whatever  I  do  may  be  seen  by  all." 

XV.  [Among  the  most  pernicious  measures  introduced  by 
the  laws  of  Gracchus,  I  reckon  the  planting  of  colonies  out  of 
Italy.  Such  a  proceeding  our  ancestors  had  so  carefully 
avoided  (because  they  saw  Carthage  so  much  more  powerful 
thau  its  mother  city  Tyre  ;  Marseilles  than  Phocsea ;  Syracuse 
than  Corinth;  Cyzicus  and  Byzantium  than  Miletus),  that  they 
even  called  home  Roman  citizens  from  the  provinces  to  be 
registered  by  the  censors  in  Italy.  The  first  colony  planted 
beyond  the  limits  of  Italy  was  Carthage.17]  The  death  of 
Drusus  hastened  the  breaking  out  of  the  Italian  war,  which  had 
been  gathering  to  a  head  during  a  considerable  time  before ; 
for  in  the  consulate  of  Lucius  Caesar  and  Publius  Rutilius,  a 
hundred  and  twenty  years  from  the  present,  all  Italy  took  arms 
against  the  Romans.  This  unfortunate  insurrection  had  its 
origin  among  the  people  of  Asculum  (who  killed  Servius  a 
praetor,  and  Fonteius  a  lieutenant-general),  and  from  them  it 
soon  spread  to  the  Marsians,  and  diffused  itself  through  every 
quarter  of  the  country.  As  the  subsequent  sufferings  of  those 
people  were  very  severe,  so  were  their  demands  extremely  just; 
for  they  claimed  the  privileges  of  a  country,  whose  power  they 

17  XV.  The  words  inclosed  in  brackets  are  entirely  out  of  place,  like 
Uiose  ut  the  beginning  of  c.  8. 


BOOK  n.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  437 

supported  by  their  arms ;  every  year,  and  for  every  war,  they 
furnished  a  double  number  of  men,  both  horse  and  foot,  and 
yet  were  not  admitted  to  the  privileges  of  the  state,  which,  by 
their  services,  had  arrived  at  that  very  eminence  from  which  it 
looked  down  with  disdain  on  men  of  the  same  nation  and  blood, 
as  aliens  and  foreigners.  This  war  carried  off  above  three 
hundred  thousand  of  the  flower  of  Italy.  The  Roman  generals 
most  distinguished  in  it  were,  Cnseus  Pompey,  father  of  Cnaeus 
Pompey  the  Great ;  Caius  Marius  before  mentioned ;  Lucius 
Sylla,  who  was  praetor  in  the  preceding  year;  and  Quintus 
Metellus,  son  of  Numidicus,  who  deservedly  obtained  the  sur- 
name of  Pius :  for  when  his  father  was  banished  by  Lucius 
Saturninus,  a  tribune  of  the  people,  because  he  alone  refused 
to  swear  obedience  to  bis  laws,  the  son,  by  his  dutiful  exertions, 
and  with  the  sanction  of  the  senate,  and  the  approbation  of  the 
Roman  people,  procured  his  recall.  So  that  Numidicus  was  not 
more  honored  by  his  triumphs  and  distinctions  than  by  the 
cause  of  his  exile,  the  exile  itself,  and  his  return  from  it. 

XVI.  The  most  remarkable  leaders  of  the  Italians  were 
Silo  Popaedius,  Herius  Asinius,  Insteius  Cato,  Caius  Pontidius, 
Telesinus  Pontius,  Marius  Egnatius,  and  Papius  Mutilus.  Nor 
shall  I,  through  mistaken  modesty,  withhold  any  part  of  the 
praise  due  to  my  own  family,  while  I  relate  only  the  truth  ;  for 
much  honor  ought  to  be  paid  to  the  memory  of  Mmatius  Ma- 
gius  of  ^Eculanum,  my  ancestor  in  the  fourth  degree.  He  was 
grandson  of  Decius  Magi  us  (a  man  of  high  distinction  and 
trust  among  the  Campanians),  and  displayed  in  this  war  such 
a  faithful  attachment  to  the  Romans,  that,  with  a  legion  which 
he  himself  had  raised  among  the  Hirpinians,  he,  in  conjunction 
with  Titus  Didius,  took  Herculaneum,  and  with  Lucius  Sylla 
besieged  Pompeii,  and  gained  possession  of  Compsa.  His  vir- 
tues have  been  celebrated  by  several  writers,  but  by  Horten- 
sius,  in  his  Annals,  more  fully  and  clearly  than  by  any  other. 
The  Roman  people  amply  recompensed  his  fidelity,  by  voting 
him  a  citizen  with  peculiar  distinction,  and  electing  his  two 
sons  prators,  at  a  time  when  only  six  were  elected.  So  va- 
riable and  alarming  was  the  fortune  of  the  Italian  war,  that  in 
the  course  of  two  successive  years  two  Roman  consuls,  first 
Rutilius  and  afterward  Porcius  Cato,  were  slain  by  the 
enemy,  and  the  armies  of  the  Roman  people  discomfited  in 
several  places,  so  that  a  general  assumption  of  the  military 


438  VELLKIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

dross18  took  place,  and  was  long  continued.  The  enemy  chose  for 
their  seat  of  government  the  city  of  Corfinium,  which  they  named 
Italicum.  The  strength  of  the  Romans  was  afterward  recruit- 
ed, though  slowly,  by  admitting  into  citizenship  such  as  either 
had  not  taken  arms,  or  had  laid  them  down  early,  while  the 
exertions  of  Pompey,  Sylla,  and  Marius,  revived  the  energy  of 
the  government  when  it  was  debilitated  and  ready  to  sink. 

XVII.  An  end  being  now  nearly  put,  except  where  the  re- 
mains of  hostility  continued  at  Nola,  to  the  Italian  war  (the 
result  of  which  was  that  the  Romans,  themselves  exhausted, 
consented  to  grant  the  privilege  of  citizenship  to  certain  states 
that  were  vanquished  and  reduced,  rather  than  to  the  whole 
when  flourishing  in  unimpaired  strength),  Quintus  Pompeius 
and  Lucius  Cornelius  Sylla  entered  upon  their  consulship. 
Sylla  was  a  man,  who,  before  he  had  subdued  his  competitors, 
could  not  be  sufficiently  commended,  nor  afterward  too  se- 
verely censured.  He  was  of  a  noble  family,  being  the  sixth 
in  descent  from  Cornelius  Rufinus,  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
leaders  in  the  war  with  Pyrrhus  ;  but  as  the  luster  of  the  family 
had  been  for  some  time  obscured,  he  conducted  himself, 
through  a  great  part  of  his  life,  in  such  a  manner,  that  he 
seemed  to  have  no  thought  of  standing  for  the  consulship. 
However,  after  his  praetorship,  having  acquired  great  reputation 
in  the  Italian  war  (such  as  he  had  before  gained  when  lieu- 
tenant-general under  Marius  in  Gaul,  where  he  defeated  some 
of  the  enemy's  most  eminent  commanders),  he  assumed  courage 
from  success,  and  becoming  a  candidate  for  the  consulship, 
was  elected  by  the  almost  universal  suffrage  of  his  country- 
.men.  When  he  attained  this  honor,  he  was  in  the  forty-ninth 
year  of  his  age. 

XVHI.  About  this  time  Mithridates  king  of  Pontus,  a  prince 
who  must  neither  be  passed  without  notice,  nor  be  slightly 
mentioned  ;  a  man  most  active  in  war,  pre-eminent  in  courage, 
distinguished  sometimes  by  success  and  always  by  spirit ;  in 
council  a  general,  in  action  a  soldier,  and  in  hatred  to  the  Ro- 
mans another  Hannibal,  took  forcible  possession  of  Asia,  and 

18  Assumption  of  the  military  dress]  Ad  saga  iretur.  "  Livy,  Epit. 
Ixxii.,  says,  with  reference  to  these  times,  sagapopulus  sumpsit.  This  mili- 


ROOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  439 

put  to  death  all  the  Roman  citizens  that  were  in  it,  whom,  by 
sending  letters  to  the  different  states,  filled  with  promises  of 
great  rewards,  he  procured  to  be  slain  on  the  same  day  and 
hour.  At  this  crisis  no  people  equaled  the  Rhodians,  either  in 
resolute  exertions  against  Mithridates,  or  in  firm  attachment  to 
the  Romans  ;  and  a  luster  was  thrown  on  their  fidelity  by  the 
perfidy  of  the  Mitylenaeans,  who  gave  up  in  chains  to  Mith- 
ridates, Manius  Aquillius  and  several  others  ;  and  yet  to  these 
very  Mitylenaeans  liberty  was  afterward  granted  by  Pompey, 
merely  to  gratify  Theophanes.19  Mithridates,  now  becoming 
formidable,  seemed  to  threaten  even  Italy,  when  the  province 
of  Asia  fell  to  the  lot  of  Sylla.  After  leaving  Rome,  he  stayed 
some  time  in  the  neighborhood  of  Nola ;  (for  that  .city,  as  if 
repenting  of  the  fidelity  to  us,  which  it  had  sacredly  main- 
tained during  the  Punic  war,  continued  in  arms  with  per- 
severing obstinacy,  and  was  then  besieged  by  a  Roman  army  ;) 
during  which  interval,  Publius  Sulpicius,  a  tribune  of  the 
people,  an  eloquent  and  active  man,  distinguished  for  wealth, 
interest,  the  number  of  his  friends,  and  the  vigor  of  his  under- 
standing and  character  (who,  though  he  had  formerly,  with 
the  best  apparent  intentions,  obtained  from  the  people  the  high- 
est office  in  the  state,  yet  afterward,  as  if  he  repented  of  his 
virtues,  and  as  if  his  good  resolutions  were  profitless,  grew 
suddenly  vicious  and  violent,  and  attached  himself  to  Marius, 
who,  at  the  end  of  his  seventieth  year,  was  still  coveting  every 
command  and  every  province),  this  man,  I  say,  now  proposed  a 
law  to  the  people,  by  which  Sylla's  commission  was  annulled, 
and  the  conduct  of  the  Mithridatic  war  decreed  to  Marius ;  to 
which  he  added  other  laws  of  pernicious  and  fatal  tendency, 
such  as  could  not  be  endured  in  a  free  state.  He  even,  by 
means  of  some  emissaries  of  his  faction,  put  to  death  a  son 
of  the  consul  Quint  us  Pompeius,  who  was  also  son-in-law  of 
Sylla. 

XIX.  On  this,  Sylla,  having  collected  a  body  of  troops,  and 
returned  to  the  city,  took  possession  of  it  by  force  of  arms,  and 
expelled  twelve  promoters  of  these  new  and  pernicious  meas- 
ures, among  whom  were  Marius,  his  son,  and  Publius  Sul- 
picius ;  at  the  same  time  procuring  a  law  to  be  passed  de- 
claring them  exiles.  As  for  Sulpicius,  some  horsemen  over- 

19  XVIII.  Theophanes]  A  native  of  Mitylene,  and  friend  of  Pompey,  of 
whose  acts  he  wrote  a  history. 


440  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

taking  him  in  the  Laurentine  marshes,  put  him  to  death ;  and 
his  head,  being  elevated  and  displayed  on  the  Rostrum,  was 
an  omen,  as  it  were,  of  the  approaching  proscription.  Marius, 
after  his  sixth  consulship  and  his  seventieth  year,  being  found 
naked,  and  covered  with  mud,  with  only  his  eyes  and  nose 
above  the  surface,  among  the  reeds  at  the  margin  of  the  lake 
of  Marica,  where  he  had  concealed  himself  to  escape  the  pur- 
suit of  Sylla's  horsemen,  was  taken  out,  and,  with  a  cord  about 
his  neck,  dragged  to  the  prison  of  Minturnae,  by  order  of  one 
of  the  two  colonial  magistrates.  A  public  servant,  by  nation 
a  German,  who  happened  to  have  been  taken  prisoner  by 
Marius  in  the  Cimbrian  war,  was  sent  with  a  sword  to  dispatch 
him ;  but  no  sooner  did  he  recognize  Marius,  than,  with  a 
loud  outcry,  showing  how  much  he  was  shocked  at  the  fall  of 
so  great  a  man,  he  threw  away  the  weapon,  and  hurried  out  of 
the  prison.  His  countrymen,  thus  taught  by  a  barbarian20  to 
commiserate  the  man  who  was  recently  at  their  head,  supplied 
him  with  clothes  and  provision  for  a  voyage,  and  put  him  on 
board  a  ship.  Having  overtaken  his  son  near  the  island  of 
^Enaria,  he  steered  his  course  to  Africa,  where,  in  a  hut  among 
the  ruins  of  Carthage,  he  lived  in  a  state  of  indigence.  Here, 
while  Marius  viewed  Carthage,  and  Carthage  contemplated  him, 
they  might  afford  consolation  to  each  other. 

XX.  In  this  year  the  hands  of  the  soldiers  were  first  stained 
with  the  blood  of  a  Roman  consul.  Quintus  Pompeius,  Syl- 
la's colleague  was  slain  by  the  troops  of  Cuaeus  Poinpey,  the 
proconsul,  in  a  mutiny  which  their  leader  had  himself  ex- 
cited. *  *  * 

Cinna  showed  no  more  moderation  than  Marius  and  Sul- 
picius ;  for  although  the  citizenship  of  Rome  had  been  granted 
to  Italy,  on  the  understanding  that  the  new  members  should 
be  included  in  eight  new  tribes,  (lest  otherwise  their  power  and 
numbers  might  detract  from  the  dignity  of  the  original  citizens, 
and  the  receivers  of  the  kindness  be  more  powerful  than  their 
1  benefactors),  he  now  promised  that  he  would  distribute  them 
through  all  the  tribes.  With  this  object  in  view,  he  had  drawn 
together  into  the  city  a  vast  multitude  from  all  parts  of  Italy. 
But  he  was  driven  out  of  Rome  by  the  power  of  his  colleague 
and  of  the  nobles ;  and,  while  he  was  on  his  way  to  Campania, 

*°  XIX.  By  a  barbarian]  Ab  hoste.     "  A  barbaro."    Krause.     Ifoetis,  &t 
opposed  to  civis. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  441 

the  consulship  was  taken  from  hiin  by  a  vote  of  the  senate, 
and  Lucius  Cornelius  Merula,  flamen  of  Jupiter,  was  appointed 
in  his  place  ;  an  illegal  proceeding,  better  suited  to  the  demerits 
of  the  man  than  for  a  precedent.  Cinua,  after  first  bribing 
the  tribunes  and  centurions,  and  then  gaining  over  the  soldiers 
by  promises  of  largesses,  was  received  as  leader  by  the  army 
at  Nola,  and  when  all  the  troops  had  sworn  obedience  to  him, 
he,  retaining  the  ensigns  of  consul,  turned  their  arms  against 
his  country  ;  depending  chiefly,  however,  on  the  vast  number 
of  the  new  citizens,  of  whom  he  had  enlisted  above  three  hun- 
dred cohorts,  and  filled  up  the  complement  of  thirty  legions. 
His  party  stood  in  need  of  men  of  character  and  influence  ;  and, 
to  add  to  these,  he  recalled  from  exile  Caius  Marius,  his  son, 
and  the  others  who  had  been  banished  with  them. 

XXI.  While  Cinna  was  making  war  on  his  country,  Cnaeus 
Pompeius,  father  of  Pompey  the  Great  (who  had  done  eminent 
service  to  the  state  in  the  Marsian  war,  especially  in  the  Picenian 
territory,  and  had  taken  Asculum,  near  Avhich  city,  while  the 
troops  were  dispersed  in  various  other  parts,  seventy-five  Roman 
citizens,  in  one  day,  maintained  a  conflict  Avith  more  than  sixty 
thousand  Italians),  had  become,  from  being  disappointed  of 
another  consulship,  so  equivocal  in  his  conduct,  and  so  apparent- 
ly undecided  for  either  party,  that  he  seemed  to  do  nothing  but 
with  a  view  to  his  own  advantage,  and  to  be  watching  for  oppor- 
tunities of  turning  himself  and  his  army  to  one  side  or  the 
other,  wherever  the  greater  prospect  of  power  for  himself  should 
appear.  But  at  last  he  came  to  a  collision  with  Cinna,  in  a  long 
and  fierce  battle,  of  which,  begun  and  ended  as  it  was  under  the 
very  walls  and  view  of  the  city  of  Rome,  it  can  hardly  be  ex- 
pressed how  grievous  was  the  result  both  to  the  combatants  and 
the  spectators.51  Soon  after,  while  a  pestilence  was  ravaging 
both  armies,  as  they  were  not  sufficiently  exhausted  by  the 
sword,  Cna3iis  Pompeius  died  ;  but  the  joy  felt  at  his  death  was 
in  a  great  measure  counterbalanced  by  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  so 
many  citizens,  cut  off  by  the  sword  or  by  sickness.  The  Roman 
people  vented  en  his  corpse  the  resentment  which  they  owed  to 
him  when  alive.  Whether  there  were  two  or  three  families  of 
the  Pompeii,  Quintus  Pompeius  was  the  first  consul  of  that 
name,  with  Cnaeus  Servilius,  about  a  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
years  ago.  Cinna  and  Marius,  after  several  encounters,  not 

41  XXI.  To — the  spectators]  From  the  loss  of  their  relatives. 
19* 


44-2  VELLEIUS   PATERCULTJS.  BOOK  n. 

without  considerable  bloodshed  on  both  siddes,  made  themselv<  s 
masters  of  the  city ;  but  Cinna  entered  it  first,  and  proposed  a 
law  for  the  recall  of  Marius. 

XXII.  Soon  after,  Caius  Marius  made  his  entry  into  the  city, 
nn  entry  fatal  to  his  countrymen.  Nothing  could  have  surpassed 
his  victorious  irruption  in  cruelty,  had  not  that  of  Sylla  speedily 
followed.  Nor  was  the  licentious  barbarity  of  the  sword  inflicted 
only  on  the  middling  ranks ;  but  men  of  the  highest  stations, 
and  most  eminent  characters,  were  destroyed  under  various  kinds 
of  sufferings ;  among  these  the  consul  Octavius,  a  man  of  the 
mildest  disposition,  was  slain  by  order  of  Cinna.     Merula,  who, 
on  the  approach  of  Cinna,  had  resigned  the  consulship,  having 
opened  his  veins,  and  sprinkled  his  blood  on  the  altars,  implored 
the  same  gods  whom,  as  priest  of  Jupiter,  he  had  often  entreat- 
ed to  preserve  the  Commonwealth,  to  pour  curses  on  Cinna  and 
his  party,  and  then  resigned  a  life,  which  had  greatly  served 
the  state.     Marcus  Antonius,  a  man  as  eminent  in  civil  dignity 
as  in  eloquence,  was,  by  order  of  Marius  and  Cinna,  stabbed  by 
the  swords  of  the  soldiers,  whom  he  long  caused  to  hesitate  by 
the  power  of  his  eloquence.   Quintus  Catulus,  celebrated  for  his 
other  merits,  as  well  as  for  the  fame  acquired  in  the  Cimbrian 
war,  which  was  common  to  him  and  Marius,  when  search  was 
made  for  him  by  executioners,  shut  himself  up  in  a  place  lately 
plastered  with  mortar,22  had  fire  brought  in  to  raise  a  strong 
smell,  and  then,  by  inhaling  the  noxious  vapor,  and  holding  in 
his  breath,  he  found  a  death  agreeable  to  the  wishes,  though 
not  to  the  intentions  of  his  enemies.     Every  thing  was  falling 
headlong  into  ruin,  but  no  person  was  yet  found  who  dared  to 
make  a  donation  of  the  property  of  a  Roman  citizen,  or  to  ask 
for  it.     Afterward   this  additional   evil  was   introduced,  that 
avarice  supplied  motives  for  cruelty ;  magnitude  of  guilt  was  esti- 
mated by  magnitude  of  wealth ;  whoever  was  rich,  was  criminal, 
and  became  a  reward,  as  it  were,  for  his  own  destruction ;" 
nor  was  any  thing  considered  dishonorable  that  was  gainful. 

XXIII.  Cinna  now  entered  on  his  second  consulship,  and 
Marius  on  his  seventh,  to  the  utter  disgrace  of  the  former  six. 
In  the  early  part  of  it  he  fell  sick  and  died,  leaving  a  character 
for  having  been  implacable  in  war  toward  his  enemies,  and  in 

25  XXII.  "With  mortar]  Calce  arenaque.  With  lime  and  sand.  Floras, 
iii.  21,  says  that  Catulus  died  ignis  haustu,  by  swallowing  fire. 

23  A  reward — for  his  own  destruction]  Sui—periculi  merces.  "  His  prop- 
erty being  divided  among  those  who  procured  nis  death."  Ruhnken. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  443 

peace  toward  his  countrymen,  and  uiterly  impatient  of  quiet. 
In  his  room  was  elected  Valerius  Flaccus,  the  author  of  a  most 
dishonorable  law,  by  which  he  obliged  all  creditors  to  accept  a 
fourth  part  of  what  was  due  to  them ;  for  which  proceeding 
deserved  punishment  overtook  him  within  two  years  after. 
While  Cinna  tyrannized  in  Italy,  the  greater  part  of  the  nobility 
fled  into  Achaia  to  Sylla,  and  thence  afterward  into  Asia.  Sylla 
meanwhile  engaged  the  generals  of  Mithiidates,  near  Athens, 
in  Boeotia,  and  Macedonia,  with  such  success  that  he  recovered 
Athens,  and,  after  expending  a  vast  deal  of  labor  in  reducing 
the  numerous  fortifications  of  the  Piraeus,  slew  above  two  hun- 
dred thousand  of  the  enemy,  and  took  at  least  as  many  prisoners. 
If  any  person  imputes  the  guilt  of  rebellion  to  the  Athenians, 
at  the  time  when  their  city  was  besieged  by  Sylla,  he  is  certainly 
ignorant  both  of  the  truth  and  of  history.  For  so  invariable 
was  the  fidelity  of  the  Athenians  to  the  Romans,  that  at  all 
times,  and  in  every  transaction,  whatever  was  performed  with 
perfect  good  faith,  the  Romans  used  to  say  was  done  with 
"  Attic  faith."  But  that  people,  overpowered  by  the  force  of 
Mithridates,  were  in  a  most  miserable  condition,  held  in  posses- 
sion by  their  enemies,  besieged  by  their  friends,  and,  while  their 
inclinations  were  outside  the  walls,  compelled  by  necessity  to 
keep  their  persons  within.  Sylla,  then  passing  over  to  Asia, 
found  Mithridates  submissive,  and  ready  to  agree  to  any  terms 
whatever.  He  obliged  him,  after  paying  a  fine  in  money,  and 
delivering  up  half  of  his  ships,  to  withdraw  from  Asia  and  all 
the  other  provinces  of  which  he  had  taken  possession  by  force 
of  arms ;  he  recovered  the  prisoners,  punished  the  deserters  and 
other  traitors,  and  ordered  the  king  to  confine  himself  within 
his  father's  territory,  that  is,  Pontus. 

XXIV.  Caius  Flavius  Fimbria  (who,  being  general  of  the 
cavalry  before  Sylla  came  into  Asia,  had  put  to  death  Valerius 
Flaccus,  a  man  that  had  been  consul,  and,  having  assumed  the 
command  of  the  army,  and  been  saluted  with  the  title  of  Im- 
perator,  had  got  the  better  of  Mithridates  in  a  vigorous  engage- 
ment) slew  himself  on  Sylla's  arrival.  He  was  a  young  man, 
who  executed  with  bravery  what  he  planned  with  utter  dis- 
regard of  honesty.  In  the  same  year  Publius  Laenas,  a 
tribune  of  the  people,  threw  from  the  Tarpeian  rock  Sextus 
Lucilius,  who  had  been  tribune  the  year  before ;  and  as  his 
colleagues,  whom  he  had  fixed  a  day  to  bring  to  trial,  fled 


444  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS. 

iu  alarm  to  Sylla,  he  procured  a  sentence  cf  banishment24 
against  them. 

Sylla,  having  now  arranged  affairs  beyond  sen,  and  having, 
as  chief  of  the  Romans,  received  embassadors  from  the  Par- 
thians  (some  of  whom,  being  magi,  foretold  from  marks  on  his 
body  that  his  life  and  memory  would  be  glorious),  sailed  home 
to  Italy,  landing  at  Brundusium  not  more  than  thirty  thousand 
men  to  oppose  two  hundred  thousand  of  his  enemies.  I  can 
scarcely  consider  any  part  of  Sylla's  conduct  more  honorable 
than  this ;  that  while  the  party  of  Marius  and  Cinna  held  Italy 
in  subjection,  during  three  years,  and  while  he  never  dissembled 
his  intention  of  turning  his  arms  against  them,  he  yet  did  not 
relinquish  the  affairs  which  he  had  in  hand,  judging  it  right  to 
humble  an  enemy  before  he  took  vengeance  on  a  countryman ; 
nor  was  it  till  fear  from  abroad  was  removed,  and  till  he  had 
subdued  foreign  foes,  that  he  proceeded  to  suppress  opposition 
at  home.  Before  the  arrival  of  Lucius  Sylla,  however,  Cinna 
was  slain  in  a  mutiny  of  his  troops.  Such  a  man  deserved  to 
die  rather  by  the  sentence  of  a  conqueror,  than  by  the  rage  of 
the  soldiery.  But  he  was  a  character  of  whom  it  may  truly  be 
said,  that  he  dared  what  no  good  man  would  dare,  and  accom- 
plished what  could  be  effected  by  none  but  the  bravest ;  that 
he  was  precipitate  in  forming  his  designs,  but  executed  them 
like  a  man.  Carbo,  electing  no  colleague  in  his  room,  continued 
sole  consul  for  all  the  rest  of  the  year. 

XXV.  It  might  be  supposed  that  Sylla  had  come  into  Italy, 
not  to  take  vengeance  for  the  war  raised  against  him,  but 
merely  to  establish  peace;  so  quietly  did  he  lead  his  army 
through  Calabria  and  Apulia  into  Campania,  taking  the  great- 
est care  for  the  safety  of  the  fruits,  lands,  inhabitants,  and  towns ; 
and  endeavoring  to  put  an  end  to  the  war  on  just  and  equitable 
terms.  But  peace  could  never  be  acceptable  to  those  whose 
desires  were  unprincipled  and  without  control.  In  the  mean 
time  Sylla's  army  increased  daily ;  for  all  the  best  and  most 
•judicious  flocked  to  his  standard.  Then,  by  a  happy  concur- 
rence of  events,  he  suppressed  the  consuls  Scipio  and  Norbanus 
near  Capua ;  Norbanus  was  conquered  in  battle  ;  Scipio,  deserted 
by  his  troops,  and  delivered  into  Sylla's  hands,  was  dismissed 
without  injury.  So  different  was  Sylla  as  an  adversary  and  a 

»4  XXIV.  Procured  a  sentence  of  banishment]  Aqua,  ignique  vis  wder- 
dixit.    See  Floras,  iii.  16. 


BOOK  n.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  445 

conqueror,  that,  while  he  was  still  gaining  a  victory,  he  was 
merciful  to  excess,25  but  after  it  was  secured,  more  cruel  than 
nny  on  record.  Thus  he  dismissed  the  disarmed  consul,  as  we 
have  said,  and  released,  in  like  manner,  Quintus  Sertorius  (soon 
to  prove  the  firebrand  of  so  great  a  war),  and  many  others  whom 
he  had  taken  ;  in  order,  we  might  suppose,  that  a  proof  might 
be  seen  of  the  existence  of  two  distinct  and  opposite  minds  in 
the  same  person.  After  his  victory,  on  the  spot  where,  in  his 
descent  from  Mount  Tifata,  he  had  encountered  Caius  Norbanus, 
he  gave  solemn  thanks  to  Diana,  the  deity  to  whom  that  tract 
is  sacred,  and  dedicated  to  the  goddess  the  waters  so  celebrated 
for  their  salubrity  and  for  curing  diseases,  with  all  the  adjacent 
land.  An  insciption  on  a  pillar  at  the  door  of  her  temple,  and 
a  brazen  tablet  within  it,  preserve  to  the  present  day  the 
memory  of  this  grateful  religious  ceremony. 

XXVI.  The  next  consuls  were  Carbo,  a  third  time,  and  Caius 
Marius,  son  of  him  who  had  been  seven  times  consul ;  the  latter 
was  then  twenty-six  years  old,  and  was  a  man  of  his  father's 
spirit,  though  not  of  his  father's  length  of  life.28  He  made  many 
courageous  efforts,  nor  did  he,  as  consul,  fall  in  any  way  below 
his  name.  But  being  defeated  by  Sylla  in  a  pitched  battle  at 
Sacriportus,  he  retreated  with  his  troops  to  Praeneste,  a  place 
which  was  well  defended  by  nature,  and  in  which  he  had  placed 
a  strong  garrison. 

That  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  the  public  calamities,  men 
rivaled  each  other  in  crimes,  in  a  state  where  the  rivalry  had 
always  been  in  virtues ;  and  he  thought  himself  the  best  man 
who  proved  himself  the  worst  Thus  Damasippus,  then  praetor, 
during  the  contest  at  Sacriportus,  murdered  in  the  Curia  Hostilia, 
as  abettors  of  Sylla's  party,  Domitius,  Mucius  Scaevola,  who  was 
chief  pontiff,  and  highly  celebrated  for  his  knowledge  both  of 
divine  and  human  law,  Caius  Carbo,  who  had  been  pra3tor,  and 
was  brother  of  the  consul,  and  Antistius,  who  had  been  sedile. 
Let  not  Calpurnia,  daughter  of  Bestia,  and  wife  of  Antistius. 
lose  the  renown  of  a  very  glorious  act.  When  her  husband 
was  put  to  death,  as  we  have  said,  she  stabbed  herself  with  a 

2S  XXV.  Merciful  to  excess]  Justissimo  lenior.  The  text  is  here  defect- 
ive. 

28  XXVI.  A  man  of  his  father's  spirit,  though  not  of  his  father's  length 
of  life]  Vir  animi  mag/is  quam.  aw,  paterni.  "sEvum  is  here  for  cetas. 
Marius  did  not  live  as  many  years  as  hia  father,  being  killed  young,  as  IB 
related  in  c.  27."  Kraaise. 


440  VELLEIU3   PATKRCTJLUS.  BOOK  n. 

sword.      What    an     accession     of    glory    and     f;:m"     in    ]i«-r 
family!"     *     *     * 

XXVII.  At  this  time,  Pontius  Telesinus,  a  Samnite  general, 
a  man  of  great  spirit  and  activity  in  the  field,  and  a  thorough 
enemy  to  all  the  Roman  name,  having  assembled  about  forty 
thousand  young  men  of  the  greatest  bravery,  and  the  most  de- 
termined obstinacy  in  continuing  the  war,  maintained,  in  the 
consulship  of  Carbo  and  Marius,  on  the  first  of  November,  a 
hundred  and  eleven  years  ago,  such  a  struggle  with  Sylla  at  the 
Colline  gate,  as  brought  both  him  and  the  republic  into  the 
utmost  peril ;  nor  was  the  state  in  more  imminent  danger  when 
it  beheld  the  camp  of  Hannibal  within  three  miles  of  the  city, 
than  on  that  day  when  Telesinus,  hurrying  through  the  ranks 
of  his  army,  exclaimed  that  the  last  day  of  Rome  was  come, 
and  exhorted  them  in  a  loud  voice  to  pull  down  and  destroy 
the  city,  adding,  that  those  wolves,  the  devourers  of  Italian  lib- 
erty, would  never  cease  from  ravaging,  until  the  woods,  in  which 
they  took  refuge,  were  hewn  down.  At  length,  after  the  first 
hour  of  the  night,  the  Roman  troops  took  breath,  and  those  of 
the  enemy  retired.  Next  day  Telesinus  was  found  mortally 
wounded,  but  wearing  the  look  of  a  conqueror,  rather  than  of  a 
man  at  the  point  of  death.  Sylla  ordered  his  head  to  be  cut 
off,  and  carried  and  displayed  around  the  walls  of  Praeneste. 
Young  Caius  Marius,  then  at  length  seeing  his  cause  desperate, 
endeavored  to  make  his  way  out  through  subterraneous  pas- 
sagos,28  which,  constructed  with  wonderful  labor,  led  to  different 
parts  of  the  adjacent  country,  but,  as  soon  as  he  emerged  from 
an  opening,  he  was  slain  by  persons  stationed  there  for  the  pur- 
pose. Some  say,  that  he  died  by  his  own  hand ;  others,  that  ns 
he  was  struggling  with  the  younger  brother  of  Telesinus,  who 
was  shut  up  with  him,  and  attempting  to  escape  at  the  same 
time,  they  fell  by  mutual  wounds.  In  whatever  manner  ho 
died,  his  memory,  even  at  this  day,  is  not  obscured  by  the  grand 
reputation  of  his  father.  What  was  Sylla's  opinion  of  the 
youth,  is  manifest ;  for  it  was  not  till  after  his  death  that  he  as- 
sumed the  title  of  Felix,  which  he  would  have  adopted  with  the 
greatest  justice,  had  his  victories  and  his  life  ended  together. 

27  The  words  at  the  end  of  this  chapter  are  so  defective,  that  it  is  useless 
to  attempt  a  translation  of  them. 

28  XXVII.  Subterraneous  passages]    Cuniculos.      "  Made  either  for  the 
conveyance  of  water,  or  for  eecret  ways  of  exit  from  the  city.    See  Strabo, 
v.,  p.  365."  Krause, 


BOOK  a  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  447 

The  commander  of  the  forces  that  besieged  Marius  in  Prseneste 
was  Lucretius  Ofella,  who,  having  been  previously  a  leader  on 
Maiius's  side,  had  deserted  to  Sylla.  The  happy  issue  of  that 
day,  on  which  Telesinus  and  the  Samnite  army  were  repulsed, 
Sylla  honored  with  an  annual  celebration  of  games  in  the  Circus, 
which  are  exhibited  under  the  title  of  "Sylla's  Games." 

XXVIII.  A  short  time  before  Sylla's  battle  at  Sacriportus, 
some  officers  of  his  party  had  defeated  the  enemy  in  engage- 
ments of  great  importance  ;  the  two  Servilii  at  Clusium,  Metellus 
Pius  at  Faventia,  and  Marcus  Lucullus  near  Fidentia.     The 
miseries  of  civil  war  seemed  now  to  be  at  an  end,  when  they 
were  renewed  with  additional  violence  by  the  cruelty  of  Sylla ; 
for,  being  made  dictator  (an  office  which  had  been  discontinued 
a  hundred  and  twenty  years,  the  last  having  been  in  the  year 
subsequent  to  Hannibal's  departure  from   Italy ;  whence  it  is 
evident  that  the  Roman  people  did  not  so  much  desire  the  at- 
thority  of  the  dictatorship  in  times  of  danger,  as  they  dreaded 
it  in  those  of  peace),  he  used  that  power,  which  former  dictators 
had  employed  to  preserve  the  state  from  imminent  dangers, 
with  the  unrestrained  indulgence  of  wanton  barbarity.     He  first 
adopted  (would  that  he  had  been  the  last !)  the  plan  of  proscrip- 
tion ;  so  that,  in  a  state  in  which  justice  is  granted  to  a  hissed 
actor,  if  assailed  with  abusive  language,  a  reward  was  publicly 
offered  for  the  murder  of  a  Roman  citizen ;  he  who  procured 
most  deaths  gained  most  money ;  the  price  for  killing  an  enemy 
was  not  greater  than  that  for  killing  a  citizen ;  and  each  man's 
property  became  a  prize  for  depriving  him  of  life.29     He  vented 
his  barbarous  rage,  not   only  on   those   who   had  borne  arms 
against  him,  but  on  many  who  could  not  be  charged  with  any 
guilt.     He   directed,    also,    that   the   goods    of  the  proscribed 
should  be  sold ;  and  the  children,  after  being  excluded  from  the 
property  of  their  fathers,  were  deprived  of  the  right  of  suing  for 
places  of  honor ;  thus,  what  was  most  unreasonable,  the  sous  of 
senators  were  obliged  to  bear  the  burdens  of  their  station,  and 
at  the  same  time  lost  their  privileges. 

XXIX.  Not   long    before    Lucius   Sylla's   arrival    in    Italy, 
Cnseus  Pompey,  son  of  that  Cnaeus  Pompey  whose  great  ex- 
ploits in   his  consulship,    during   the    Marsian    war,    we  have 
previously  mentioned,  being  then  twenty-three  years  of  age,  a 

*»  XXVIII.  A  prize  for  depriving  him  of  life]   Quisque  merces  mortis  *wz. 
Coinp.,  c.  22. 


448  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  ir. 

hundred  and  thirteen  years  ago,  began  to  form  great  projects, 
depending  as  well  on  his  own  private  resources  as  on  his  own. 
judgment,  and  boldly  to  put  them  in  execution  ;  and  in  order  to 
support  or  restore  the  dignity  of  his  country,  assembled  a  strong 
army  from  the  Picenian  territory,  which  was  wholly  filled  with 
his  father's  clients.  To  do  justice  to  this  man's  greatness  would 
require  many  volumes  ;  but  the  limits  of  my  work  require  that 
he  should  be  characterized  in  a  few  words.  His  mother's 
name  was  Lucilia,  of  a  senatorial  family ;  he  was  remarkable 
for  beauty,  not  such  as  adorns  the  bloom  of  life,  but  of  such 
dignity  and  serenity  as  was  well  adapted  to  his  rank  and  sta- 
tion, and  which  accompanied  him  to  the  last  day  of  his  life. 
He  was  distinguished  for  temperance,  was  eminent  for  integrity, 
and  had  a  moderate  share  of  eloquence.  He  was  excessively 
covetous  of  power,  when  conferred  on  him  from  regard  to  his 
merit,  but  had  no  desire  to  acquire  it  by  irregular  means.  In 
war,  he  was  the  most  skillful  of  generals  ;  in  peace,  the  most 
modest  of  citizens,  except  when  he  was  jealous  of  having  an 
equal.  He  was  constant  in  his  friendships,  placable  when 
offended,  most  cordial  in  reconciliation,  most  ready  to  receive 
an  apology.  He  never,  or  very  rarely,  stretched  his  power  to 
excess,  and  was  almost  exempt  from  vice,  unless  it  be  counted 
among  the  greatest  vices,  that,  in  a  free  state,  the  mistress  of 
the  world,  though,  in  right,  he  saw  every  citizen  his  equal,  ho 
could  not  endure  to  behold  any  one  on  a  level  with  him  in 
dignity.  From  the  time  of  his  assuming  the  manly  gown,  he 
was  trained  to  war  in  the  camp  of  his  father,  a  general  of  con- 
summate judgment ;  and  he  improved  a  genius  naturally  good, 
and  capable  of  attaining  all  useful  knowledge,  with  such  sin- 
gular skill  ra  military  affairs,  that  while  Metellus  received 
higher  praise  from  Sertorius,  Pompey  was  much  more  dreaded 
by  him. 

XXX.30  *  *  *  *  At  this  time  Marcus  Perperna,  a  man  who 
had  held  the  praetorship,  one  of  the  proscribed,  and  who  was  of 
high  family,  but  of  little  honor,  assassinated  Sertorius  at  a  feast 
at  Osca  ;  and  by  this  execrable  deed  procured  certain  victory 
for  the  Romans,  ruin  for  his  own  party,  and  a  most  shameful 
death  for  himself.31  Metellus  and  Pompey  triumphed  for  the 

30  XXX.  Krause  thinks  that  there  is  a  considerable  hiatus  between  these 
two  chapters. 
«  Shameful  death  for  himself]  His  treachery  led  to  his  desertion  by  hi» 


BOOK  n.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  449 

conquest  of  Spain.  At  the  time  of  this  triumph,  also,  Pompey 
was  still  a  Roman  knight ;  yet  on  the  day  before  he  entered  0:1 
his  consulship,  he  rode  through  the  city  in  his  chariot.83  Must 
it  not  be  matter  of  wonder,  that  this  man,  elevated  to  the  sum- 
mit of  dignity  through  so  many  extraordinary  gradations  of  pre- 
ferment, should  be  displeased  at  the  Roman  senate  and  people 
for  favoring  Caius  Caesar  in  his  application  for  a  second  consul- 
ship ?  So  apt  are  men  to  think  every  thing  pardonable  in  them- 
selves, and  to  show  no  indulgence  to  others ;  regulating  their 
dislike  of  proceedings,  not  by  the  merits  of  the  case,  but  by  their 
own  wishes  and  feelings  for  particular  characters.  In  this  con- 
sulate, Pompey  re-established  the  tribunitial  power  of  which 
Sylla  had  left  the  shadow  without  the  substance. 

While  the  war  with  Sertorius  continued  in  Spain,  sixty-four 
fugitive  slaves,  headed  by  Spartacus,  made  their  escape  out  of 
a  gladiator's  school  at  Capua ;  and,  forcibly  supplying  them- 
selves with  swords  in  that  city,  directed  their  course  at  first  to 
Mount  Vesuvius.  Afterward,  increasing  daily  in  numbers,  they 
brought  many  and  grievous  disasters  on  the  whole  of  Italy.  At 
length  they  became  so  numerous,  that  in  the  last  battle  which 
they  fought,  they  opposed  forty  thousand  men  to  the  Roman 
army.  The  honor  of  terminating  this  war  fell  to  Marcus  Cras- 
sus,  who  soon  after  became  a  leading  man  among  the  Roman 
people. 

XXXI.  The  character  of  Cnaeus  Pompey  had  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  whole  world,  and  he  was  regarded  as  something 
more  than  man.  In  his  consulship  he  had  very  laudably  taken 
an  oath,  that,  on  the  expiration  of  his  office,  he  would  not  take 
the  government  of  any  province  ;  and  this  oath  he  had  observ- 
ed ;  when,  two  years  after,  Aulus  Gabinius,  a  tribune  of  the 
people,  got  a  law  passed,  that,  whereas,  certain  pirates  kept  the 
world  in  alarm  with  their  fleets,  engaging  in  regular  warfare, 
and  not  in  mere  robberies  or  secret  expeditions,  and  had  even 
plundered  several  cities  in  Italy,  Cnseus  Pompey  should  be  com- 
missioned to  suppress  them ;  and  should  have  authority  in  all 
the  provinces,  equal  to  that  of  the  proconsuls,  to  the  distance 

troops,  and  his  defeat  and  death  at  the  hands  of  Pompey.  See  Appian, 
B.  c.,  i.  115 ;  Plutarch,  Sert.,  c.  27  ;  Tomp.  c.  20. 

32  Kode  through  the  city  in  his  chariot]  There  was  a  law  which  forbade 
any  one,  who  was  not  of  consular  or  praetorian  dignity,  to  have  a  triumph. 
But  this  was  Poinpey's  second  triumph.  Hence  velleius  says  hoc  qtwgut 
triumpko,  "  in  this  triumph  also."  See  Plutarch,  Pomp.,  c.  14,  22. 


450  VELLEIUS  PATERCULTJS.  BOOK  it 

of  fifty  miles  from  the  sea.  By  this  decree  the  government  of 
almost  the  whole  world  was  vested  in  one  man.  However,  u 
law  of  the  like  kind  had  been  made  two  years  before  in  the  case 
of  Marcus  Antonius,  when  praetor  ;  but  as  the  character  of  the 
person  concerned  renders  such  a  precedent  more  or  less  perni- 
cious, so  it  augments  or  diminishes  men's  disapprobation  of  the 
proceeding.  With  regard  to  Antonius,  they  acquiesced  without 
displeasure,  for  people  are  rarely  jealous  of  the  honors  of  those 
whose  influence  they  do  not  fear.  On  the  contrary,  they  look 
with  dread  on  extraordinary  powers  conferred  on  persons  who 
seem  able  either  to  resign  or  retain  them  at  their  own  choice, 
and  who  have  no  limit  to  their  acts  but  their  own  will.  The 
nobility  opposed  the  measure,  but  prudence  was  overcome  by 
party  violence. 

XXXII.  It  is  proper  to  mention  in  this  place,  a  testimony  to 
the  high  character,  and  extraordinary  modesty,  of  Quintus  Catu- 
lus.  Arguing  against  this  decree  in  the  assembly,  and  having 
observed  that  Pompey  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  extraordinary 
merit,  but  that  he  was  already  too  great  for  a  member  of  a  free 
state,  and  that  all  power  ought  not  to  be  reposed  in  one  indivi- 
dual, he  added,  "  If  any  thing  shall  happen  to  that  man,  whom 
will  you  substitute  in  his  place  ?"  To  which  the  whole  assem- 
bly answered  aloud,  "  Yourself,  Quintus  Catulus."  On  this,  be- 
ing overcome  by  the  general  concurrence  of  opinion,  and  by 
such  an  honorable  proof  of  the  public  esteem,  he  withdrew  from 
the  assembly.  Here  it  is  pleasing  to  admire  the  modesty  of  the 
man  and  the  justice  of  the  people ;  his  modesty  in  desisting 
from  pressing  his  opinion  further,  and  their  justice  in  proving 
themselves  unwilling  to  defraud  him  of  a  clue  testimony  of  es- 
teem, though  he  was  opposing  and  urging  against  their  inclina- 
tions. About  the  same  time,  Cotta  divided  equally  between 
the  two  orders  the  privileges  of  being  judges,33  which  Gains 
Gracchus  had  taken  from  the  senate,  and  transferred  to  the 
knights,  and  which  Sylla  had  again  restored  to  the  senators. 
Roscius  Otho  now  restored34  to  the  knights  their  places  in  the 
theater.  Cnaeus  Pompey  having  engaged  many  officers  of 

33  XXXII.  Privilege  of  being  judges]  Judicandimunvs.     See  the  Pseudo- 
Sallust's  First  Epistle  to  Caesar,  c.  7. 

34  Eoscius  Otho  now  restored]   Otho  Roscius — restitvit.     "  The  same  word 
is  twice  used,  in  speaking  of  this  law,  by  Cicero,  pro  Mnrsen.,  c.  19,  BO  that 
it  is  probable,  as  Puteanus  has  suggested,  that  the  equites  had  seats  separ- 
ate from  the  plebs  before  this  well-known  law  was  passed."  Ruhnken. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  451 

great  abilities  to  assist  him  in  the  war,  and  having  raised  a 
navy  sufficient  to  command  every  nook  of  the  sea,  very  soon, 
with  his  invincible  hand,  freed  the  world  from  apprehension, 
defeated  the  pirates  *  *  *  in  various  places,35  and,  attacking 
them  on  the  coast  of  Cilicia,  gave  them  a  final  overthrow.  Anil 
in  order  the  sooner  to  conclude  a  war  so  widely  spread,  he  col- 
lected the  remains  of  those  depredators  together,  and  appointed 
them  fixed  residences  in  towns,  and  in  parts  remote  from  the 
soa.  Some  blame  this  proceeding  ;  but  the  high  character  of 
the  man  sufficiently  justifies  it ;  though,  indeed,  its  reasonable- 
ness would  have  justified  it  in  a  man  of  any  character.  Ena- 
bling them  to  live  without  plundering,  he  of  course  diverted  them 
from  a  predatory  life. 

XXXIII.  When  the  war  with  Mithridates  was  drawing  to  a 
close,  and  while  Lucius  Lucullus,  who,  on  the  expiration  of  his 
consulship,  seven  years  before,  having  received  Asia  as  his  prov- 
ince, and  been  appointed  to  act  against  Mithridates,  had  achiev- 
ed many  memorable  exploits,  having  often  defeated  that  mon- 
arch in  various  places,  having  relieved  Cyzicus  by  a  glorious 
victory,  having  vanquished  Tigranes,  the  greatest  king  of  the 
age,  in  Armenia,  and  having  forborne,  rather  then  been  unable, 
to  put  the  finishing  hand  to  the  war  (for  though  in  every  other 
respect  highly  deserving  of  praise,  and  in  the  field  almost  invin- 
cible, he  was  a  slave  to  the  desire  of  increasing  his  wealth), 
while  Lucullus,  I  say,  was  still  prosecuting  the  contest,  Manilius, 
a  tribune  of  the  people,  a  man  always  venal,  and  the  tool  of 
men  in  power,  proposed  a  law,  "  that  the  war  with  Mithridates 
should  be  conducted  by  Cnreus  Pompey."  This  law  was  pass- 
ed ;  and  a  quarrel  ensued  between  the  two  commanders,  attend- 
ed with  violent  altercations.  Pompey  reproached  Lucullus  with 
his  scandalous  love  of  money,  and  Lucullus  railed  at  Pompey's 
inordinate  ambition  ;  and  neither  could  be  convicted  of  falsehood 
in  what  he  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  other.  For  Pompey,  from 
his  first  engagement  in  public  business,  could  never  with 
patience  endure  an  equal,  and  in  cases  where  he  was  entiled  to 
the  first  share  of  honor,  he  wished  to  engross  the  whole ;  no 
man,  indeed,  being  less  covetous  of  every  thing  else,  or  more  so 
of  glory.  In  his  pursuit  of  employments  of  honor,  he  was  im- 

«  Defeated  the  pirates  *  *  *  in  various  places]  Prcedonetqut  per 
muUa  *  *  *  a  multis  locis,  etc.  A  defective  passage.  The  Bipoiit  edi- 
tor reads  per  inulta  maria  muliis,  etc. 


452  VELLETU3  PATKRCULTJS.  BOOK  n. 

moderate ;  in  office,  he  displayed  the  utmost  moderation. 
Though  he  accepted  posts  of  distinction  with  pleasure,  he  quit- 
ted them  without  regret,  resigning  at  the  will  of  others  what  he 
had  sought  for  his  own  gratification.  Lucullus,  in  other  par- 
ticulars a  very  great  man,  was  the  first  introducer  of  the  luxury 
which  now  prevails  in  buildings,  entertainments,  and  furniture ; 
.  BO  that,  in  allusion  to  the  structures  which  he  raised  in  the  sea, 
and  his  conducting  the  sea  into  the  land  by  undermining  mount- 
ains, Pompey  the  Great  used  facetiously  to  call  him  "  Xerxes 
in  a  toga." 

XXXIV.  About  this  time,  the  island  of  Crete  was  reduced 
under  the  dominion  of  the  Roman  people  by  Quintus  Metellus. 
This  island,  under  two  leaders,  named  Panares,  and  Lesthenes, 
at  the  head  of  twenty-four  thousand  young  men,  who  were 
swift  and  active,  patient  of  warfare  and  toil,  and   eminently 
skilled  in  archery,  had  wearied  out  the  Roman  armies  during 
the  previous  three  years.     Even  of  the  renown  acquired  here, 
Pompey  did  not  refrain  from  seeking  a  share,  but  endeavored 
to  make  it  appear  that  a  portion  of  the  success  was  due  to 
himself.     However,  their  own  singular  merits,  and  the  feeling 
against  Pompey  entertained  by  the  most  honorable  men  on  the 
occasion,  rendered  the  triumph  of  Lucullus  and  Metellus  ex- 
tremely popular. 

.Soon  after,  Marcus  Cicero,  who  was  indebted  to  himself  for 
all  his  advancement,  the  noblest  of  new  men,36  honored  in  his 
life  and  pre-eminent  in  ability,  to  whom  we  are  obliged  for  not 
being  excelled  in  genius  by  those37  whom  we  conquered  in 
arms,  detected,  in  his  character  of  consul,  and  with  extraordi- 
nary courage,  firmness,  vigilance,  and  activity,  a  conspiracy  of 
Sergius  Catiline,  Lentulus,  Cethegus,  and  other  members  of  the 
senatorial  and  equestrian  orders.  Catiline  was  compelled,  by 
dread  of  the  extraordinary  powers  conferred  on  the  consul,  to 
flee  from  the  city.  Lentulus,  who  had  been  consul,  and  was 
then  in  his  second  praetorship,  Cethegus,  and  several  others  of 
great  note,  were,  by  the  consul's  order,  under  the  authority  of 
the  senate,  put  to  death  in  prison. 

XXXV.  That  day  of  the  senate's  meeting,  on  which  these 
transactions  passed,  displayed  in  the  brightest  colors  the  merit 
of  Marcus  Cato,  which  on  many  prior  occasions  had  shone  con- 

s»  XXXIV.  Noblest  of  new  men]  Nomtatis  nobiliszimce.    The  translation 
is  Baker's 
87  Excelled  in  genius  by  those,  etc,]  Viz.,  by  the  Greeks. 


BOOK  it.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  453 

spicuous,  and  with  peculiar  luster.  He  was  great-grandson  of 
Marcus  Cato,  the  founder  of  the  Porciau  family,  and  was  a  man 
who  closely  resembled  virtue  itself,  and,  in  every  particular  of 
his  conduct,  seemed  more  like  the  gods  than  mankind ;  who 
never  acted  rightly,  that  he  might  appear  to  do  so,  but  because 
he  could  not  act  otherwise ;  who  never  thought  any  thing 
reasonable  that  was  not  likewise  just ;  and  who,  exempt  from 
every  vice,  kept  his  own  fortune  always  in  his  own  power. 
After  some  had  advised  that  Lentulus  and  the  other  conspir- 
ators should  be  kept  in  custody  in  the  municipal  towns,  he, 
being  then  tribune  of  the  people  elect,  very  young,  and  almost 
the  last  that  was  asked  his  opinion,  inveighed  against  the  con- 
spiracy with  such  energy  and  ability,  that,  by  the  warmth  of 
his  discourse,  he  caused  the  language  of  all  that  recommended 
lenity  to  be  regarded  with  suspicion,  as  if  they  were  connected 
with  the  plot ;  and  so  forcibly  did  he  represent  the  dangers  im- 
pending from  the  destruction  and  burning  of  the  city,  and  from 
the  subversion  of  the  established  state  of  public  affairs,  so  highly, 
too,  did  he  extol  the  merits  of  the  consul,  that  the  whole  senate 
went  over  to  his  opinion,  and  decreed  that  capital  punishment 
should  be  inflicted  on  the  conspirators ;  and  the  greater  part  of 
that  body,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  debate,  escorted  him  to 
his  house.  But  Catiline  was  not  less  resolute  in  the  prosecution 
of  his  schemes  than  he  had  been  in  forming  them  ;  for,  fight- 
ing with  the  greatest  courage,  he  resigned  in  the  field  of  battle 
the  breath  which  he  owed  to  the  executioner. 

XXXVI.  The  birth  of  the  emperor  Augustus,  ninety-two 
years  from  the  present  time,  who  was  afterward,  by  his  great- 
ness, to  cast  a  shade  over  all  men  of  all  nations,  added  no  small 
luster  to  the  consulship  of  Cicero.  To  notice  the  times  at 
which  eminent  geniuses  flourished  during  this  period,  may 
seem  almost  superfluous ;  for  who  is  ignorant  that  in  this  age 
arose,  separated  by  short  intervals,  Cicero,  Hortensius,  and,  a 
little  before  them,  *  *  *  Crassus,38  Cotta,  and  Sulpicius,  while, 
immediately  after,  appeared  Brutus,  Calidius,  Calms,  Calvus,  and 
Caesar,  who  came  next  to  Cicero,  besides  the  disciples,  as  we 
may  call  them,  of  these,  Corvinus,  Asinius  Pollio,  Sallust,  the 
riv:il  of  Thucydides,  as  well  as  the  poets  Varro  and  Lucretius, 

**  XXXVI.  A  little  before  them,  *  *  *  Crassns,  etc.]  Anteaqne 
*  *  *  CrtUftan.  An1f<njue  is  ii  conjecture  of  Heinsius  for  sanequ*,  the 
previous  rcadiiiir.  Fuleuiiud  tliiuks  that  the  11:11:10  of  Aiitouiuu  id 
111  the  text. 


454  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  a. 

with  Catullus,  who  was  inferior  to  none  in  the  style  of  writing 
which  he  adopted  ?  To  enumerate  those  that  are  before  our 
eyes  would  seem  to  be  but  folly  ;  among  whom,  however,  the 
most  eminent  are  Virgil,  the  prince  of  poets,  Rabirius,"  Livy, 
who  follows  hard  upon  Sallust,  Tibullus,  and  Ovid,  each  excel- 
lent in  his  peculiar  species  of  composition.  But  the  difficulty 
of  criticizing  our  living  authors  is  proportioned  to  the  great  ad- 
miration felt  for  them. 

XXXVII.  During  the  time  of  these  transactions  in  Rome 
and  Italy,  Cnaeus  Pompey  was  carrying  on  the  war  with  extra- 
ordinary success  against  Mithridates,  who,  after  the  departure 
of  Lucullus,  had  formed  a  new  army  of  very  great  force.     But 
the  king  being  routed  and  put  to  flight,  and  stripped  of  all  his 
forces,  went  into  Armenia,  to  his  son-in-law  Tigranes,  the  most 
powerful  prince  of  that  age,  had  not  his  strength  been  some- 
what reduced  by  the  arms  of  Lucullus.     Pompey,  therefore,  in 
pursuit  of  both,  entered  Armenia.     The  son  of  Tigranes,  who 
was  at  variance  with  his  father,  was  the  first  to  meet  Pompey, 
and  soon  after,  the  king  himself,  in  a  suppliant  manner,  sur- 
rendered his  person  and  his  kingdom  to  his  disposal ;  previously 
declaring,  that  there  was  no  man,  either  of  the  Roman  or  of  any 
other  nation,  to  whose  honor  he  would  intrust  himself,   but 
Cnaaus  Pompey ;  that  any  condition,  whether  favorable  or  ad- 
verse, which  he  should  appoint,  would  be  tolerable  to  him ;  and 
that  it  was  no  disgrace  to  be  conquered  by  him  whom  it  was 
impossible  to  conquer,  nor  any  dishonor  to  submit  to  him  whom 
fortune  had  raised  above  all  men.     The  king  was  allowed  to  re- 
tain the  honor  of  sovereignty,  but  was  obliged  to  pay  a  vast 
sum  of  money  ;  the  whole  of  which,  according  to  Pompey's  con- 
stant practice,  was  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  quaestor,  and  reg- 
istered in  the  public  accounts.     Syria  and  the  other  provinces 
which  he  had  seized,  were  taken  from  him  ;  of  which  some  were 
restored  to  the  Roman  people,  and  others  came  for  the  first 
time  under  its  dominion,  as  Syria,  which  was  sentenced  to  pay 
tribute.     The  limits  of  the  king's  dominion  were  fixed  as  thoso 
of  Armenia. 

XXXVIII.  It  seems  not  inconsistent  with  the  plan  of  this 
work  to  recount  briefly  what  states  and  nations  have  been  re' 

38  Rabirius]  For  flabirius,  Marklnnd,  Ep.  Grit.,  p.  14,  would  read  Paring. 
Perizonius  thinks  that  Horatlus  should  be  inserted  ;  and  Burnv.m  supposes 
that  the  name  of  Propertius  has  dropped  out  of  the  text.  But  Vclleius, 
says  Krause,  might  have  reasons  for  omitting  both  Horace  and  1'ropertius. 


BOOK  ii.        COMPENDIUM:  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  455 

duced,  and  under  whose  generalship,  into  the  form  of  provinces, 
and  made  tributary.  This  statement  I  shall  give,  that  the 
whole  history  of  them  may  more  easily  be  learned  at  one  view, 
than  if  each  were  mentioned  separately.  The  first  who  trans- 
ported an  army  into  Sicily  was  the  consul  Claudius ;  and  about 
fifty-two  years  after,  Claudius  Marcellus,  having  taken  Syracuse, 
made  it  a  province.  Regulus  first  carried  hostilities  into  Africa, 
about  the  ninth  year  of  the  first  Punic  war ;  but  it  was  not  till 
a  hundred  and  five  years  after  (a  hundred  and  seventy-five  from 
the  present  time),  that  Publius  Scipio^Emilianus,  on  destroying 
Carthage,  reduced  Africa  to  the  form  of  a  province.  Sardinia 
submitted  to  a  permanent  yoke  of  government  between  the  first 
and  second  Punic  wars,  through  the  exertions  of  the  consul  Ti- 
tus Manlius.  It  is  a  strong  proof  of  the  warlike  disposition  of 
the  Roman  nation,  that  the  shutting  of  the  temple  of  double- 
faced  Janus  gave  indication  of  general  peace,  only  once  under 
the  kings,  a  second  time  in  the  consulate  of  this  Titus  Manlius, 
and  a  third  time  in  the  reign  of  Augustus.  The  first  who  led 
armies  into  Spain  were  the  two  Scipios,  Cnseus  and  Publius,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  second  Punic  war,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago ;  after  that,  our  possessions  there  varied,  and  were 
often  partly  lost,  but  the  whole  was-  made  tributary  by  the  arms 
of  Augustus.  Paulus  subdued  Macedonia,  Mummius  Achaia, 
Fulvius  Nobilior  yEtolia.  Lucius  Scipio,  brother  of  Africanus, 
took  Asia  from  Antiochus ;  but  after  it  had  been  possessed 
some  time  by  the  royal  family  of  Attalus,  through  the  kindness 
of  the  Roman  senate  and  people,  Marcus  Perperna,  having  taken 
Aristonicus  prisoner,  made  it  a  tributary  province.  Of  conquer- 
ing Cyprus  the  honor  can  be  given  to  no  one  ;  for  it  was  in  con- 
sequence of  a  decree  of  the  senate,  and  by  the  instrumentality 
of  Cato,  on  the  death  of  its  king,  which,  conscious  of  guilt,  he 
inflicted  on  himself,  that  it  became  a  province.  Crete  was  pun- 
ished, under  the  command  of  Metellus,  with  the  loss  of  his 
long-enjoyed  liberty,  and  Syria  and  Pontus  are  monuments  of 
!  the  valor  of  CIIOBUS  Pompey. 

XXXIX.  In  Gaul,  which  was  first  entered  with  an  army  by 
Domitius,  and  Fabius  the  grandson  of  Paulus,  who  got  the  title 
of  Allobrogicus,  we  often,  with  great  detriment  to  ourselves, 
made  acquisitions  and  lost  them.  But  the  most  splendid 
achievement  of  Caius  Caesar  is  there  conspicuous ;  for,  under 
his  conduct  and  auspices,  it  was  so  reduced,  that  it  tamely  pays 


456  VELLBIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

almost  the  same  tribute  as  all  the  rest  of  the  world.  By  the 
same  commander  Numidia  was  made  a  province.  Isauricus 
completely  subdued  Cilicia,  and  Manlius  Vulso  Gallograecia, 
after  the  war  with  Antiochus.  Bithynia,  as  we  have  said,  was 
left  us  as  an  inheritance  by  the  will  of  Nicomedes.  The  divine 
Augustus,  beside  Spain  and  other  nations,  with  the  names  of 
which  his  Forum  is  adorned,  brought  into  the  treasury,  by 
making  Egypt  tributary,  almost  as  great  a  revenue  as  his  father 
did  by  the  reduction  of  Gaul.  Tiberius  CaBsar  extorted  from 
the  Hlyrians  and  Dalmatians  as  explicit  a  confession  of  subjec- 
tion as  his  parent  had  exacted  from  the  Spaniards,  and  annexed 
to  our  empire,  as  new  provinces,  Rhaitia,  Vindelicia,  Noricum, 
Pannonia,  and  the  Scordisci.  As  he  reduced  these  by  arms, 
so,  by  the  influence  of  his  name,  he  viade  Cappadocia  tributary 
to  the  Romans.  But  let  us  return  to  the  course  of  our  narra- 
tive. 

XL.  Then  followed  the  military  exploits  of  Cna3us  Pompey, 
of  which  it  is  hard  to  tell,  whether  the  glory  or  the  toil  was 
greater.  In  his  victorious  career,  he  traversed  Media,  Albania, 
Iberia,  and  then  directed  his  march  to  the  nations  inhabiting 
the  interior  and  right-hand  coasts  of  the  Pontus  Euxinus,  the 
Colchians,  Heniochi,  and  Achasans.  Mithridates,  sinking  under 
the  ascendency  of  Pompey,  and  the  treachery  of  his  own  son 
Pharnaces,  was  the  last  of  independent  kings,  excepting  the 
Parthian.40  Thus  Pompey,  victorious  over  every  nation  to 
which  he  had  gone,  grown  greater  than  the  wish  of  his  coun- 
trymen or  even  than  his  own,  and  having  in  every  way  ex- 
ceeded the  measure  of  human  fortune,  returned  to  Italy.  An 
opinion  that  had  prevailed  rendered  his  return  extremely  popu- 
lar ;  for  most  people  had  asserted  that  he  would  not  come  into 
the  city  without  his  army,  and  that  he  would  limit  the  liberty 
of  the  people  by  his  own  will.  The  more  strongly  they  were 
affected  by  this  apprehension,  the  more  grateful  was  the  un- 
assuming manner  in  which  that  great  commander  returned ; 
for,  having  disbanded  his  whole  army  at  Brundusium,  and 
retaining  nothing  of  the  general  but  the  title,  he  entered  the 
city  with  no  other  retinue  than  that  which  was  constantly  ac- 
customed to  attend  him.  During  two  days  he  exhibited  a 

40  XL.  Excepting  the  Parthian]  "  He  means  in  the  East.  All  other 
kings,  except  those  of  Parthia,  owed  their  kingdoms  to  the  indulgence  of 
the  Romans,  and  were  subservient  to  their  will,  chiefly  by  the  instrument- 
ality of  Pompey."  Kra-use. 


BOOK  n.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  457 

most  magnificent  triumph  over  so  many  kings,  and,  out  of 
t'le  spoils,  brought  into  the  treasury  a  much  larger  sum  of 
money  than  had  been  known  in  any  former  instance,  excepting 
that  of  Paulus.41  During  the  absence  of  Pompey,  Titus 
Ampius  and  Titus  Labienus,  tribunes  of  the  people,  got  a  law 
passed,  that  at  the  games  in  the  Circus  he  might  wear  a  crown 
of  laurel,  and  all  the  dress  usual  in  triumphs ;  and  at  exhibi- 
tions on  the  stage,  a  purple-bordered  robe,  and  laurel  crown ; 
but  this  privilege  he  never  thought  proper  to  use  but  once, 
and,  in  truth,  even  that  was  too  much.  Fortune  added  to  this 
man's  dignity  with  such  large  increase,  that  he  triumphed  first 
over  Africa,  then  over  Europe,  and  next  over  Asia,  rendering 
each  part  of  the  world  a  monument  of  his  victories.  But 
eminent  stations  are  never  exempt  from  envy.  Lucullus,  who, 
however,  was  moved  by  resentment  of  the  ill-treatment  shown 
him,  and  Metellus  Creticus,  who  had  a  just  cause  of  complaint 
(for  Pompey  had  taken  from  him  some  captive  leaders  that 
were  intended  to  grace  his  triumph),  in  conjunction  with  many 
of  the  nobles,  labored  to  prevent  both  Pompey's  engagements 
to  the  several  states,  and  his  promises  of  rewards  to  the  deserv- 
ing, from  being  fulfilled  according  to  his  direction. 

XLI.  Next  followed  the  consulship  of  Caius  Caesar,  who 
arrests  me  as  I  am  writing,  and  forces  me,  though  in  haste,  to 
bestow  some  attention  on  him.  He  was  born  of  the  most 
noble,  and,  as  all  writers  admit,  most  ancient  family  of  the 
Julii,  deriving  his  pedigree  from  Anchises  and  Venus.  In  per- 
sonal beauty  he  was  the  first  of  all  his  countrymen  ;  in  vigor 
of  mind  indefatigable ;  liberal  to  excess ;  in  spirit  elevated 
above  the  nature  and  conception  of  man  ;  in  the  grandeur  of 
his  designs,  the  celerity  of  his  military  operations,  and  in  his 
cheerful  endurance  of  dangers,  exactly  resembling  Alexander 
the  Great  when  sober  and  free  from  passion.  Food  he  took  for 
the  sustenance  of  life,  not  for  pleasure.  Though  he  was  closely 
connected  in  relationship  with  Caius  Man  us,  and  was  also  son- 
in-law  to  Cinna  (whose  daughter  he  could  by  no  intimidation 
be  induced  to  divorce,  though  Marcus  Piso,  a  man  of  consular 
rank,  to  gratify  Sylla,  had  divorced  Annia,  who  had  been  wifo 

«  Excepting  that  of  Paulas]  Pratsrqnam  a  Paullo.  Vossius,  Burman, 
Gruter,  Ruhnken,  and  Krause  concur  in  thinking  these  words  spurious ; 
lor  Pompey,  according  to  Plutarch,  Pomp.,  c.  45,  brought  into  the  treasury 
t'vonty  thousand  talents  of  gold  and  silver,  a  sum  twice  as  great  as  that 
vhic'a  was  brought  by  Paulus  ^Emiliua. 

20 


458  YELLEIUS  PATERCTTLUS.  BOOK  rr. 

of  Cinna),  and  though  he  was  only  about  nineteen  years  old 
when  Sylla  assumed  the  government  of  the  state,  yet  the  min- 
isters and  creatures  of  Sylla,  more  than  himself,  made  search 
for  him,  in  order  to  kill  him ;  on  which  he  changed  his  clothes, 
and,  putting  on  a  dress  far  inferior  to  his  rank,  escaped  out  of 
the  city  in  the  night.  Afterward,  while  he  was  still  very  young, 
he  was  taken  by  pirates,  and  during  the  whole  time  that  he 
was  detained  by  them,  behaved  in  such  a  manner,  that  he  be- 
came an  object  both  of  terror  and  veneration  to  them ;  nor 
did  he  ever,  by  night  or  by  day,  take  oft'  his  shoes  or  his  girdle 
(for  why  should  so  remarkable  a  circumstance  be  omitted, 
though  it  can  not  be  told  with  any  grace  of  style  ?)  lest,  if  he 
made  any  alteration  in  his  usual  dress,  he  should  render  him- 
self suspected  by  those  who  watched  him  only  with  their 
eyes.43 

XLIL  It  would  require  too  much  space  to  speak  of  all  his 
various  and  numerous  services,  or  of  the  conduct  of  the  Roman 
magistrate,  who  then  governed  Asia,  and  who,  through  timid- 
ity, shrunk  from  seconding  his  efforts.  Let  what  follows  bo 
mentioned,  as  a  specimen  of  the  conduct  of  a  man  soon  to  be- 
come so  great.  On  the  night  succeeding  the  day  on  which  he 
was  ransomed  by  the  public  money  of  several  states  (which, 
however,  he  managed  so  as  to  make  the  pirates  give  hostages 
to  those  states),  he  collected  a  squadron  of  private  vessels  hastily 
fitted  out,  and  sailing  to  the  place  where  the  pirates  were,  dis- 
persed part  of  their  fleet,  sunk  part,  took  several  of  their  ships 
and  men,  and  then,  delighted  at  the  success  of  his  nocturnal 
expedition,  returned  to  his  friends.  Having  lodged  his  prison- 
ers in  custody,  he  proceeded  to  Bithynia,  to  the  proconsul 
Junius,  the  governor  of  Asia,  and  requested  him  to  give  orders 
for  putting  the  prisoners  to  death.  This  he  refused,  and  said 
he  would  sell  them  (for  envy  was  the  concomitant  of  his  base- 
ness of  spirit),43  when  Caesar,  with  incredible  speed,  returned  to 

12  XLT.  Watched  him  only  with  their  eyes]  They  watched  him  only  with 
their  eyes,  says  Krause?  having  no  mental  communication  with  him.  Had 
he  made  any  alteration  in  his  dress,  they  might  have  supposed  that  he  was 
preparing  for  flight,  and  have  laid  hands  upon  him. 

43  XL1I.  Envy — baseness  of  spirit]  Sequebatur  invidia  infrtiam.  Onden- 
dorp  conjectured  avaritia  for  inoidia.  Kuhnkcn  justifies  invidia  by  a  sen- 
tence of  Seneca,  De  Tranq.  Anim.,  p.  345,  ed.  Gronov.  :  Aiit  en/im  livorem 
infelix  inertia  ;  et  (mines  destrui  cupiunt,  quia  ge  non  poteiiint  provehere  ;  and 
by  another  from  Cicero,  Phil.,  x.  1 :  Verum  esse  id  quod  ego  semper  tensi, 
s,  qui  suce  consuleret,  virtuti  invidere. 


BOOK  IL  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  459 

the  coast,  and  before  letters  from  the  proconsul  about  the  busi- 
ness could  be  conveyed  to  any  one,  crucified  the  whole  of  the 
prisoners. 

XLIII.  Returning  in  haste  to  Italy,  to  take  on  him  the 
priest's  office  (for  he  had  been  electedva  pontifex  in  his  absence, 
in  the  room  of  Cotta,  who  had  been  consul ;  and  when  almost 
a  boy,  indeed,  he  had  been  appointed  a  priest  of  Jupiter  by 
Marius  and  Cinna,  but  had  lost  that  office  through  the  victory 
of  Sylla,  who  annulled  all  their  acts),  he  embarked,  in  order  to 
escape  the  notice  of  the  pirates,  who  covered  the  whole  sea, 
and  were  then  naturally  incensed  against  him,  in  a  four-oared 
boat,  with  two  friends  and  ten  servants,  and  thus  crossed  the 
vast  gulf  of  the  Adriatic.  On  his  passage,  having  seen,  as  he 
thought,  some  of  the  pirates'  vessels,  he  threw  off  his  gown, 
and  fastened  his  dagger  to  his  side,  preparing  himself  for  any 
event,  but  soon  discovered  that  his  sight  had  been  deceived  by 
a  row  of  trees  at  a  distance  presenting  the  appearance  of  the 
rigging  of  ships.  The  rest  of  his  acts  in  the  city,  his  cele- 
brated impeachment  of  Dolabella,  to  whom  more  public  favor 
was  shown  than  is  generally  extended  to  persons  arraigned  ; 
his  remarkable  political  contests  with  Quintus  Catulus,  and 
other  eminent  men ;  his  victory,  before  he  was  praetor,  and 
when  he  stood  for  the  office  of  pontifex  maximus,  over  the 
same  Quintus  Catulus,  who  was  universally  allowed  to  be  the 
first  man  in  the  senate  ;  his  repairing,  in  his  aedileship,  the 
monuments  of  Caius  Marius,  even  in  opposition  to  the  nobility ; 
his  re-instatement,  at  the  same  time,  of  the  sons  of  the  pro- 
scribed in  the  right  of  standing  for  office  ;  his  wonderful  energy 
and  activity  in  his  piaetorship  and  quaestorship  in  Spain  (where 
he  was  quaestor  under  Antistius  Vetus,  the  grandfather  of  the 
present  Vetus,  who  has  been  consul  and  is  a  pontifex,  and  who 
is  the  father  of  two  sons  that  have  been  consuls  and  are  priests, 
a  man  of  as  much  virtue  as  human  integrity  can  be  conceived 
to  embrace),  all  these  matters  are  too  well  known  to  require 
repetition  here. 

XLIV.  In  his  consulship,  there  was  settled  between  him, 
Cnaeus  Pornpey,  and  Marcus  Crassus,  a  treaty  of  alliance  in 
power,  which  proved  of  fatal  consequence  to  the  city  and  to 
the  world,  and  not  less  so,  at  subsequent  periods,  to  themselves. 
Pompey's  motive  for  entering  into  this  plan  was,  that  his  acts 
in  the  provinces  beyond  sea,  which  were  opposed  by  many,  as 


460  VELLBIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  ir. 

we  have  already  mentioned,  might  at  length  be  confirmed  by 
means  of  Caesar,  while  consul ;  Caesar's,  because  he  imagined, 
that  by  yielding  for  a  time  to  Pompey's  power,  he  should  ad- 
vance his  own,  and  that  by  throwing  on  him  the  jealousy  at- 
tending their  common  greatness,  he  should  gain  stability  to  his 
own  strength  ;  while  Crassus  was  filled  with  the  hope  of  ac- 
quiring, through  the  influence  of  Pompey,  and  the  support  of 
Caesar,  that  pre-eminence  which  he  never  could  attain  by  his 
own  single  efforts.  An  affinity  had  also  been  contracted  by 
marriage  between  Caesar  and  Pompey ;  for  Pompey  had  mar- 
ried Caesar's  daughter.  In  his  consulship,  Caesar  procured  a 
law  to  be  passed,  which  was  also  supported  by  Pompey,  that 
the  lands  of  Campania  should  be  divided  among  the  people ; 
in  consequence  of  which,  about  twenty  thousand  citizens  were 
conducted  thither,  and  the  privileges  of  Rome  were  restored  to 
that  country,  about  a  hundred  and  fifty-two  years  after  Capua 
had,  in  the  Punic  war,  been  reduced  by  the  Romans  into  the 
condition  of  a  prefecture.  Bibulus,  Caesar's  colleague,  being 
more  willing  than  able  to  obstruct  his  proceedings,  confined 
himself  to  his  house  during  the  greater  part  of  the  year ;  by 
which  conduct,  while  he  wished  to  increase  the  odium  against 
his  colleague,  he  only  increased  his  power.  The  province  of 
Gaul  was  then  decreed  to  Caesar  for  five  years. 

XLV.  During  this  period,  Publius  Clodius,  a  man  of  noble 
birth,  eloquent,  and  daring,  who  knew  no  control  for  his  words 
or  actions  but  his  own  will,  who  fearlessly  executed  what  he 
wickedly  conceived,  who  bore  the  infamy  of  an  incestuous  com- 
merce with  his  own  sister,  and  who  had  been  publicly  accused 
of  having  committed  adultery  ani-id  the  most  solemn  religious 
rites  of  the  Roman  people ;  this  man,  I  say,  being  actuated  by 
a  most  violent  enmity  to  Marcus  Cicero  (for  how,  indeed,  could 
any  thing  like  friendship  subsist  between  characters  so  dis- 
similar?) renounced  his  patrician  rank,  became  a  plebeian,  was 
appointed  a  tribune,  and  passed  a  law  in  his  tribunate,  that  any 
person  who  had  put  a  Roman  citizen  to  death  without  a  judi- 
cial sentence,  should  be  sent  into  banishment.44  It  was  Cicero 
alone,  though  he  was  not  named  in  this  law,  that  was  meant  to 
be  affected  by  it.  Thus  a  man,  who  had  performed  the  highest 
services  to  the  state,  received,  in  return  for  having  saved  his 
country,  the  penalty  of  exile.  Caesar  and  Pompey  did  not 

44  XLV.  Sent  into  banishment]  Aqua,  et  igni  interdiceretur.    See  c.  24. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  401 

escape  suspicion  of  having  abetted  this  persecution  of  Cicero, 
who  seemed  to  halve  brought  it  on  himself  by  refusing  to  be 
one  of  the  twenty  commissioners  for  dividing  the  lands  of 
Campania.  In  less  than  two  years,  however,  by  the  late  but 
intrepid  exertions  of  Cngeus  Pompey,  joined  with  the  wishes  of 
all  Italy  and  the  decrees  of  the  senate,  and  through  the  energy 
and  efforts  of  Annius  Milo,  a  tribune  of  the  people,  he  was 
restored  to  his  dignity  and  his  country.  Nor,  since  the  exile 
and  recall  of  Numidicus,  had  the  banishment  of  any  one  ex- 
cited more  regret,  or  the  return  more  joy.  His  house,  which 
had  been  pulled  down  with  great  malice  by  Clodius,  the  senate 
rebuilt  with  equal  magnificence. 

The  same  Publius  Clodius  removed  Marcus  Cato  from  the 
seat  of  government,  under  pretense  of  giving  him  a  very  honor- 
able employment ;  for  he  procured  a  law  to  be  passed,  that  he 
should  be  sent  in  character  of  quaestor,  but  with  the  authority 
of  praetor,  and  with  another  quaestor  attending  him,  into  the 
island  of  Cyprus,  to  despoil  Ptolemy  of  his  kingdom,  who, 
indeed,  deserved  such  treatment  by  the  general  viciousness  of 
his  life.  But,  just  before  Cato's  arrival,  he  put  an  end  to  his 
own  life,  and  Cato  brought  home  from  Cyprus  a  much  larger 
quantity  of  treasure  than  had  been  expected.  To  praise  Cato 
for  his  honesty,  would  be  rather  derogatory  to  him  than  other- 
wise ;  but  to  accuse  him  of  ostentatiously  displaying  it,  would 
seem  but  just ;  for  when  all  the  populace  of  the  city,  together 
with  the  consuls  and  the  senate,  poured  forth  to  salute  him  as 
he  was  sailing  up  the  Tiber,  he  did  not  disembark  to  meet 
them  unti]  he  arrived  at  the  spot  where  the  treasure  was  to  be 
landed. 

XL VI.  While  Caesar  was  achieving  vast  exploits  in  Gaul, 
the  relation  of  which  would  require  many  volumes,  and,  not 
content  with  numerous  and  glorious  victories,  or  with  killing  or 
taking  great  multitudes  of  the  enemy,  had  at  last  transported 
his  army  into  Britain,  seeking,  as  it  were,  a  new  world  for  our 
government  and  his  own,  a  remarkable  pair  of  consuls,45  Cngeus 
Pompey  and  Marcus  Crassus,  entered  on  a  second  consulship, 
which  they  neither  acquired  by  honorable  means,  nor  conducted 
in  a  praiseworthy  manner.  By  a  law  which  Pompey  proposed 
to  the  people,  the  government  of  his  province  was  continued  to 

45  XLVI.  A  remarkable  pair  of  consuls]  Invict  umpar  consvlum.  Inmv 
turn  not  being  satisfactory,  Lipsius  and  Heinsius  conjectured  inclitum  parj 
Kuhnken  unicumpar.  I  nave  adopted  the  former. 


462  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

Caesar  for  tlie  same  length  of  time  as  before,  and  Syria  was 
decreed  to  Crassus,  who  now  meditated  a  war  with  Parthia. 
This  man,  in  other  respects  irreproachable,  and  unstained  by 
dissipation,  knew  no  limits,  and  imposed  no  restraint  on  himself, 
in  his  pursuit  of  wealth  and  glory.  When  he  was  setting  out 
for  Syria,  the  tribunes  of  the  people  strove  in  vain  to  detain 
him,  by  announcing  unfavorable  omens  ;  and,  had  their  curses 
taken  effect  on  him  alone,  the  loss  of  the  general,  while  the 
army  was  safe,  would  have  been  rather  an  advantage  to  the 
public.  Crassus  had  crossed  the  Euphrates,  and  was  on  his 
march  toward  Seleucia,  when  king  Orodes,  surrounding  him 
with  an  immense  force  of  cavalry,  slew  him,  together  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  Roman  army.  Caius  Cassius  (who  was 
afterward  guilty  of  a  most  atrocious  crime),48  being  at  that 
time  quaestor,  preserved  the  remains  of  the  legions,  ably  re- 
tained Syria  under  the  power  of  the  Romans,  and  routed,  with 
distinguished  success,  the  Parthians  who  had  invaded  it,  arid 
compelled  them  to  flee. 

XL VII.  During  this  period,  that  which  followed,  and  the  one 
which  we  have  already  mentioned,  above  four  hundred  thou- 
sand of  the  enemy  were  slain  by  Caius  Caesar,  and  a  greater 
number  taken.  He  fought  often  in  pitched  battles,  often  on 
his  march,  often  made  sudden  attacks ;  twice  he  penetrated 
into  Britain ;  and  of  nine  campaigns,  scarcely  one  passed 
without  his  justly  deserving  a  triumph.  But  near  Alesia  such 
achievements  were  effected  as  it  was  scarcely  for  man  to  at- 
tempt, and  for  little  less  than  a  deity  to  accomplish.  It  was  in 
the  seventh  year  of  Caesar's  stay  in  Gaul  that  Julia,  the  wife  of 
Pompey  the  Great,  died,  the  connecting  link  of  concord  between 
Pompcy  and  Caesar ;  which,  through  their  mutual  jealousy  of 
power,  had  been  some  time  in  danger  of  disruption ;  and,  as 
if  fortune  would  dissolve  every  tie  between  leaders  destined  to 
so  great  a  contest,  the  little  son  of  Pompey  and  Julia  died  a 
short  time  after.  Then,  while  ambition  extended  its  rage  to 
the  sword  and  civil  slaughter,  of  which  neither  end  nor  control 
could  be  found,  his  third  consulship  was  conferred  on  Cnseus 
Pompey,  he  being  made  sole  consul,  with  the  approbation  even 
of  those  who  had  formerly  opposed  his  pretensions.  In  con- 
sequence of  the  distinction  conferred  on  him  by  this  election, 
by  which  it  appeared  that  the  party  of  the  nobles  were  recon- 

«  Most  atrocious  crime]  The  assassination  of  Julius  Caesar. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  4G3 

cili-d  to  him,  the  breach  was  greatly  widened  between  him  and 
Caius  Caesar.  But  he  employed  the  whole  power  of  that  con- 
sulship in  laying  restraints  on  bribery.  In  this  year,  Publius 
Clodius  was  killed  by  Milo,  then  a  candidate  for  the  consulship, 
in  a  quarrel  that  arose  on  their  meeting  near  Bovillae ;  an  act 
of  bal  precedent,  but  beneficial  to  the  public.  It  was  not 
more  the  feeling  excited  against  the  deed,  than  the  will  of 
Pompey,  that  caused  Milo  to  be  condemned  on  his  trial; 
though  Marcus  Cato  publicly  gave  his  opinion  in  favor  of  his 
acquittal.  Had  he  given  it  sooner,  several  would,  doubtless, 
have  followed  his  example,  and  have  approved  of  the  sacrifice 
of  such  a  member  of  the  community,  than  whom  there  never 
lived  one  more  pernicious  to  the  state,  or  a  greater  enemy  to 
all  good  men. 

XLVIIL  In  a  short  time  after,  the  flames  of  civil  war  began 
to  blaze,  while  every  man  who  regarded  justice  wished  both 
Caesar  and  Pompey  to  disband  their  armies.  For  Pompey,  in 
his  second  consulship,  had  desired  that  the  province  of  Spain 
might  be  assigned  to  him ;  and  during  three  years,  while  he 
was  absent  from  the  country,  and  directing  affairs  in  Rome,  he 
administered  the  government  there  by  his  deputies,  Afranius 
of  consular,  and  Petreius  of  praetorian  rank;  and  while  he 
assented  to  the  judgment  of  those  who  insisted  on  Caesar's  dis- 
banding his  army,  he  opposed  those  who  required  the  same 
from  himself.  Had  this  man  died  two  years  before  recourse 
was  had  to  arms,  after  he  had  finished  the  structures  erected  at 
his  own  expense,  his  theater,  and  the  buildings  around  it,  and 
when  he  was  attacked  by  a  violent  disorder  in  Campania  (at 
which  time  all  Italy  offered  prayers  for  his  recovery,  an  honor 
never  before  paid  to  any  citizen),  fortune  would  not  have  had 
opportunity  to  work  his  overthrow,  and  he  would  have  carried 
undiminishei  to  the  shades  below  the  greatness  that  he  enjoyed 
in  this  upper  world. 

For  producing  the  civil  war,  and  all  the  calamities  that  en- 
sued from  it,  through  a  space  of  twenty  successive  years,  there 
was  no  one  that  supplied  more  flame  and  excitement  than  Caius 
Curio,  a  tribune  of  the  people.  He  was  of  noble  birth,  eloquent, 
intrepid,  prodigal  alike  of  his  own  fortune  and  reputation,  and 
those  of  others  ;  a  man  ably  wicked,  and  eloquent  to  the  injury 
of  the  public,  and  whose  passions  and  desires  no  degree  of  wealth 
or  gratification  could  satisfy.  At  first  he  took  the  side  of  Pom- 


464  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

pey,  that  is,  as  it  was  then  deemed,  the  side  of  the  Common- 
wealth ;  soon  after,  he  pretended  to  oppose  both  Caesar  and 
Pompey,  but,  in  reality,  was  attached  to  Caesar.  Whether  this 
attachment  was  the  result  of  his  own  choice,  or  the  consequence 
of  a  bribe  of  ten  thousand  sestertia,47  as  has  been  said,  we  shall 
leave  undetermined.  At  last,  when  salutary  conditions,  tend- 
ing to  unite  all  parties  in  peace,  had  been  very  fairly  pro- 
posed by  Caesar,  and  were  patiently  considered  by  Pompey, 
this  man  interrupted  and  broke  off'  the  treaty,  while  Cicero 
labored,  with  singular  zeal,  to  preserve  concord  in  the  state. 
Of  these  and  the  preceding  transactions,  the  detail  is  given  in 
the  larger  volumes  of  others,  and  will,  I  trust,  be  sufficiently  set 
forth  in  mine. 

XLIX.  Let  my  work  now  resume  its  intended  character ; 
though  I  would  first  congratulate  Quintus  Cutulus,  the  two 
Luculli,  Metellus,  and  Hortensius,  that  after  having  flourished  in 
the  state  without  envy,  and  enjoyed  great  eminence  without 
danger,  they  died  in  the  course  of  nature  before  the  commence- 
ment of  the  civil  broils,  and  while  the  state  was  still  quiet,  or  at 
least  not  tending  to  its  fall.  In  the  consulship  of  Lentulus  and 
Marcellus,  seven  hundred  and  three  years  after  the  foundation 
of  the  city,  and  seventy-eight  before  the  commencement  of  your 
consulate,  Marcus  Vinicius,  the  civil  war  blazed  forth.  The 
cause  of  one  of  the  leaders  appeared  to  be  the  better,  that  of  the 
other  was  the  stronger.  On  one  side  every  thing  was  specious, 
on  the  other  was  greater  power.  The  support  of  the  senate 
armed  Pompey  with  confidence,  that  of  the  soldiery,  Caesar. 
The  consuls  and  senate  conferred  supreme  authority,  not  on 
Pompey,  but  on  his  cause.  Nothing  was  omitted  by  Caesar 
that  could  be  tried  for  the  promotion  of  peace ;  to  nothing 
would  the  party  of  Pompey  listen.  Of  the  consuls,  Marcellus 
was  more  violent  than  was  reasonable  ;  Lentulus  saw  that  his 
own  security48  was  incompatible  with  that  of  the  state.  Marcus 
Cato  insisted  that  it  were  better  for  them  to  die,  than  for  the 
»  state  to  listen  to  offers  from  a  private  citizen.  A  man  of  probity 
and  sound  judgment  would  approve  Pompey's  party ;  a  man  of 
prudence  would  rather  follow  Caesar's ;  deeming  the  former 
more  honorable,  the  latter  more  formidable.  At  length,  after 

«T  XLVIII.  Ten  thousand  sestertia]  Something  more  than  80,OOOZ. 

«8  XLIX.  Lentulus  saw  that  his  own  security,  etc.]  "  He  was  deeply  in 
deht,  from  which  he  could  not  emerge  an  long  as  the  state  was  undis- 
turbed." Krwuse. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  IIIPTORT.  4G5 

rejecting  every  proposal  of  Caesar's  the  opposite  party  decreed 
that,  retaining  the  mere  title  of  a  province,  and  a  single  legion, 
he  should  come  to  Rome  as  a  private  person,  and,  in  standing 
for  the  consulship,  should  submit  himself  to  the  votes  of  the 
Roman  people ;  Caesar  then  resolved  on  war,  and  passed  the 
Rubicon  with  his  army.  Cnseus  Pompey,  the  consuls,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  senate,  withdrawing  from  the  city,  and  then 
from  Italy,  sailed  over  to  Dyrrachium. 

L.  Czesar,  having  got  into  his  power  Domitius,  and  the  le- 
gions with  him  at  Corfinium,  dismissed  that  general  without 
delay,  and  every  one  else  who  chose  to  go  to  Pompey,  whom 
he  then  followed  to  Brundusium ;  thus  making  it  apparent 
that  he  desired  to  put  an  end  to  the  war  while  the  powers  of 
the  state  were  unimpaired,  and  negotiation  open,  rather  than  to 
overpower  his  opponents  in  their  flight.  Finding  that  the  con- 
suls had  sailed,  he  returned  to  the  city,  and  having  represented 
in  the  senate,  and  in  a  general  assembly  of  the  people,  the 
motives  of  his  proceedings,  and  the  cruel  necessity  under  which 
he  lay,  in  being  compelled  to  take  arms  by  the  hostility  of 
others,  he  resolved  to  go  into  Spain.  His  progress,  rapid  as  it 
WP.S.  was  for  some  time  retarded  by  the  conduct  of  Marseilles, 
which,  with  more  honesty  than  good  policy,  unseasonably  as- 
sumed the  arbitration  between  those  great  men  in  arms ;  a 
case  in  which  such  only  ought  to  interpose  as  have  power  to 
enforce  submission  to  their  award.  The  army,  which  was  com- 
manded by  Afranius,  who  had  been  consul,  and  Perreius,  who 
had  been  prretor,  amazed  at  the  energy  and  brilliancy  of  his 
progress,  immediately  surrendered  itself  to  his  pleasure.  Both 
the  commanders,  and  all  men  of  every  description  who  wished 
to  follow  them,  were  permitted  to  go  to  Pompey. 

LT.  In  the  year  following,  when  Dyrrachiura,  and  the  whole 
country  round  it,  were  occupied  by  Pompey's  camp  (who,  by 
collecting  about  him  legions  from  all  the  foreign  provinces, 
auxiliary  troops  of  horse  and  foot,  and  forces  from  kings, 
tetrarchs,  and  petty  princes,49  had  formed  a  vast  army,  and  had, 
as  he  thought,  guarded  the  sea  with  such  a  line  of  ships  as 
would  prevent  Cresar  from  transporting  his  legions),  Caesar, 
proceeding  with  his  usual  dispatch  and  success,  suffered  nothing 
to  hinder  him  and  his  army  from  making  good  their  passage  by 

48  LI.  Kings,  tetrarchs,  and  petty  princes]  Regumqw.  ee  tetrarcJiarum  et 
dynastarvm.    See  Sail.,  Cat.,  c.  20. 

20* 


406  VELLEIUS  PATERCTJLTTS.  BOOK  n. 

sea,  whithersoever  and  whensoever  he  pleased.  At  first  lie 
pitched  his  camp  close  to  Pompey's,  and  soon  after  shut  him 
up  within  a  line  of  circumvallation  and  forts.  Scarcity  of  pro- 
visions, however,  began  to  be  felt,  and  more  severely  by  the  be- 
siegers than  the  besieged.  In  this  state  of  things,  Cornelius 
Balbus,  with  a  spirit  of  enterprise  almost  incredible,  went  into 
the  enemy's  camp,  and  held  frequent  conferences  with  the  con- 
sul Lentulu3  (who  was  undetermined  at  what  price  ho  would 
sill  himself),  and  thus  opened  the  way  for  himself  to  those 
preferments,  by  which  he  (not  a  mere  sojounuT  in  Spain, 
but  a  native  Spaniard),  rose  to  triumph  and  a  pontificate, 
and,  from  a  private  station,  became  a  consul.  Several  battles 
followed  with  various  success ;  but  one  of  them  proved  very 
favorable  to  Pompey's  party,  Caesar's  troops  meeting  a  severe 
repulse. 

LII.  Caesar  then  led  his  army,  into  Thessaly,  the  destined 
scene  of  his  future  victory.  Pompey,  though  his  friends  advis- 
ed a  very  different  course  (most  of  them  recommending  him  to 
transfer  the  war  into  Italy  ;  and  indeed  no  movement  could  have 
been  more  beneficial  to  his  party  ;  others  persuaded  him  to  pro- 
tract the  contest,  a  plan  which,  from  the  increasing  popularity  of 
his  cause,  would  daily  be  more  and  more  productive  of  good),  yet, 
yielding  to  his  natural  impetuosity,  marched  in  pursuit  of  the 
enemy.  The  day  of  battle  at  Pharsalia,  so  fatal  to  the  name  of 
Rome,  the  vast  effusion  of  blood  on  both  sides,  the  two  heads 
of  the  state  meeting  in  deadly  conflict,  the  extinction  of  one  of 
the  luminaries  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  slaughter  of  so 
many  and  so  eminent  men  on  the  side  of  Pompey,  the  limits  of 
this  work  do  not  allow  me  to  describe  at  large.  One  thing 
must  be  observed,  that  as  soon  as  Caesar  saw  Pompey's  line 
give  way,  he  made  it  his  first  and  principal  care  (if  I  may  use 
a  military  expression  to  which  I  have  be.-n  accustomed)  to  dis- 
band50 from  his  breast  all  considerations  of  party.  O  immortal 
gods  !  what  requital  did  this  merciful  man  afterward  receive  for 
his  kindness  then  shown  to  Brutus  1  Nothing  could  have  been 

60  LII.  Usfa  a  military  expression — disband,  etc.]  The  text  is  here  corrupt 
and  defective.  Kuhnken  ridicules  the  notion  ofdimitteret  being  the  verbuni 
ntilitare,  as  most  critics  have  supposed,  and  thiuks  that  Velleius  wrote 
something  like  this  :  Nequeprlus  neque  antlquiua  qulcquam  Tiabuit  quam  vt 
in.  omnespartes  prcecones  clamantes,  parce  civibus,  ut  militari  et  verbo  et  con- 
Kuttudine  utar,  dimitteret.  For  a  confirmation  of  this  conjecture  he  refers 
to  Appian,  B.  C.,  ii.,  p.  783;  Suet.  Cees.,  c.  75;  Flor.,  iv.  li.  The  transla- 
tion which  I  have  given  is  borrowed  from  Baker. 


I-,OOK  ii.        COMPENDIUM:  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  467 

more  admirable,  more  noble,  more  illustrious,  than  this  victory 
(for  the  nation  did  not  miss  one  citizen,  except  those  who  fell 
in  battle),  had  not  obstinacy  defeated  the  exertions  of  compas- 
sion, as  the  conqueror  granted  life  more  freely  than  the  van- 
quished received  it. 

LIU.  Pompey,  having  fled  with  the  two  Lentuli,  who  had 
been  consuls,  his  son  Sextus,  and  Favonius,  formerly  a  praetor, 
all  of  whom  chance  had  assembled  in  his  company  (some  ad- 
vising him  to  retreat  to  Parthia,  others  to  Africa,  where  he 
would  find  king  Juba  a  most  faithful  supporter  of  his  party), 
determined  at  last  to  repair  to  Egypt;  a  course  to  which  he 
was  prompted  by  his  recollection  of  the  services  which  he  had 
rendered  to  the  father  of  Ptolemy,  who,  rather  a  boy  than  a 
man,  was  now  seated  on  the  throne  of  Alexandria.  But  who, 
when  his  benefactor  is  in  adversity,  remembers  his  benefits? 
Who  thinks  that  any  gratitude  is  due  to  the  unfortunate  ?  Or 
when  does  a  change  of  fortune  not  produce  a  change  in  attach- 
ments ?  Men  were  dispatched  by  the  king,  at  the  instigation 
of  Theodotus  and  Achillas,  to  meet  Pompey  on  his  arrival  (who 
was  now  accompanied  in  his  flight  by  his  wife  Cornelia,  having 
taken  her  on  board  at  Mitylene),  and  to  desire  him  to  remove 
from  the  transport-ship  into  a  vessel  which  was  come  to  receive 
him.  ISTo  sooner  had  he  done  so,  than  he,  the  chief  of  all  that 
bore  the  name  of  Roman,  was  murdered  by  the  order  and  di- 
rection of  an  Egyptian  slave  ;  an  event  which  took  place  in 
the  consulship  of  Caius  Caesar  and  Publius  Servilius.  Such 
was  the  end  of  a  most  upright  and  excellent  man,  in  the  fifty- 
eight  year  of  his  age,  and  on  the  day  before  his  birthday, 
after  three  consulships  and  as  many  triumphs,  after  subdu- 
ing the  whole  world,  and  after  reaching  a  degree  of  exalta- 
tion bevond  which  it  is  impossible  to  ascend;  fortune  having 
made  such  a  revolution  in  his  condition,  that  he  who  lately 
wanted  earth  to  conquer,  could  now  scarcely  find  sufficient  for 
a  grave. 

Of  those  who  have  made  a  mistake  of  five  years  in  the  age 
of  this  great  man,  who  lived  almost  in  our  own  times,  what  can 
I  say  but  that  they  have  not  given  due  attention  to  the  matter, 
especially  as  the  succession  of  years,  from  the  consulship 
of  Atiiius  and  Serviiius,  was  so  easy  to  settle  ?  This  I  mention, 
not  to  censure  others,  but  to  escape  censure  myself. 

LIV.  Yet  the  king,  and  those  by  whose  influence  he  was 


468  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

governed,  showed  no  more  attachment  to  Caesar  than  they  had 
shown  to  Pompey ;  for,  at  his  coming,  they  made  a  treacherous 
attempt  on  his  life,  and  afterward  were  daring  enough  to  make 
open  war  on  him  ;  hut  they  soon  atoned  for  their  conduct  to 
both  those  great  commanders,  the  living  and  the  deceased,  by 
suffering  well-merited  deaths. 

Pompey  was  no  longer  on  earth,  but  his  name  still  had  in- 
fluence every  where.  A  strong  devotion  to  his  cause  excited  a 
formidable  war  in  Africa,  conducted  by  king  Juba,  and  by 
Scipio,  who  had  been  consul,  and  whom  Pompey,  two  years  be> 
fore  his  death,  had  chosen  for  a  father-in-law ;  their  strength 
being  augmented  by  Marcus  Cato,  who  brought  some  legions 
to  them,  though  with  the  utmost  difficulty,  by  reason  of  the 
badness  of  the  roads  and  the  scarcity  of  provisions,  and  who, 
when  the  soldiers  offered  him  the  supreme  command,  chose 
rather  to  act  under  a  person  of  superior  dignity. 

LV.  My  promise  to  be  brief  reminds  me  with  what  haste  I 
must  pursue  my  narrative.  Caesar,  pushing  his  good  fortune, 
and  sailing  to  Africa,  of  which  the  army  of  Pompey's  party, 
after  killing  Curio,  the  leader  of  Caesar's  adherents,  had  taken 
possession,  fought  there  at  first  with  various  success,  but  after- 
ward with  such  as  usually  attended  him,  and  the  enemy's  forces 
were  obliged  to  yield.  His  clemency  to  the  vanquished,  on 
this  occasion,  was  such  as  he  had  shown  to  those  whom  he  had 
previously  defeated.  But  when  he  had  finished  the  war  in 
Africa,  another  still  more  formidable  demanded  his  attention  in 
Spain  (as  to  his  conquest  of  Pharnaces,  it  scarcely  added  any 
thing  to  his  renown),  for  Cna3us  Pompey,  son  of  Pompey  the 
Great,  a  young  man  of  great  energy  in  war,  had  formed  there 
a  powerful  and  formidable  opposition  ;  as  multitudes,  still  rever- 
ing the  great  fame  of  his  father,  flocked  to  his  aid  from  every 
quarter  of  the  earth.  His  usual  fortune  accompanied  Caesar 
into  Spain ;  but  no  field  of  battle,  more  perilous  or  desperate, 
had  he  ever  entered ;  for,  on  one  occasion,  when  his  prospect 
t  of  success  seemed  worse  than  doubtful,  he  dismounted  from  his 
horse,  placed  himself  before  the  line  of  his  retreating  troops, 
and,  after  reproaching  fortune  for  having  preserved  him  for 
such  an  end,  declared  to  his  soldiers  that  he  would  not  retire  a 
step ;  bidding  them  therefore  consider  the  character  and  cir- 
cumstances of  the  general  whom  they  were  going  to  desert. 
The  battle  was  restored  by  the  effect  of  shame  rather  than 


BOOK  n.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  400 

of  courage  ;  and  greater  efforts  were  made  by  the  leader  than 
by  his  men.  Cnseus  Pompey,  who  was  found  grievously 
wounded  in  a  desert  place,  was  slain.  Labienus  and  Varus 
fell  in  the  engagement. 

LVI.  Csesar,  victorious  over  all  opposition,  came  home  to 
Rome,  and,  what  is  almost  incredible,  granted  pardon  to  all 
who  had  borne  arms  against  him,  and  delighted  the  city  with 
most  magnificent  exhibitions  of  gladiators,  and  representations 
of  sea-fights,  and  of  battles  with  cavalry,  infantry,  and  even 
with  elephants  ;  celebrating  a  feast,  too,  at  which  he  entertained 
the  people,  and  which  lasted  several  days.  He  had  five  tri- 
umphs ;  the  figures  displayed  in  that  for  Gaul  were  made  of 
citron  wood ;  in  that  for  Pontus,  of  acanthus  wood  ;61  in  that 
for  Alexandria,  of  tortoise-shell  ;52  in  that  for  Africa,  of  ivory; 
and  in  that  for  Spain,  of  polished  silver.  The  money  arising 
from  the  spoils  was  somewhat  more  than  six  hundred  thousand 
sestertia.53  But  this  great  man,  who  had  used  all  his  victories 
with  so  much  mercy,  was  not  allowed  peaceable  possession  of 
supreme  power  more  than  five  months  ;  for  after  returning  to 
Rome  in  the  month  of  October,  he  was  killed  on  the  ides  of 
March  by  a  band  of  conspirators  under  Brutus  nnd  Cassius ; 
the  former  of  whom,  though  he  had  promised  him  a  second 
consulship,  he  had  not  by  that  means  secured  to  his  interest, 
and  the  latter  he  had  offended  by  putting  him  off  to  another 
time.  They  had  even  drawn  in  to  their  murderous  plot  Deci- 
mus  Brutus  and  Caius  Trebonius,  the  most  intimate  of  all  his 
adherents,  men  who  had  been  raised  to  the  highest  dignity  by 
the  success  of  his  party,  with  several  others  of  great  note. 

Mark  Antony,  however,  his  colleague  in  the  consulship,  a 
man  always  ready  for  any  daring  deed,  had  excited  a  strong 
feeling  against  him,  by  placing  on  his  head,  as  he  was  sitting  in 
the  Rostrum  at  the  festival  of  Pan,  a  royal  diadem,  which 
Caesar  indeed  pushed  away,  but  in  such  a  manner  that  he  did 
not  seem  offended. 

LVII.  By  this  event  was  shown  the  excellence  of  the  advice 

61  LVI  Acanthus  •wood]  Acanfho.  The  acanthus  was  a  tree  of  the  acacia 
kind,  now  generally  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  the  Mimosa.  Nllotica  of 
Linneeus,  or  "  Egyptian  thorn."  See  Plin.,  H.  N.,  xxiv.  12;  .Miller1:*  Gard- 
ener's Diet.,  Art.  Acacia;  Martyn  on  Virg.  Geor^.,  r.  11". 

"  Tortoise-shell]  "  We  must  suppose  that  theferei/la,  or  frames  on  which 
the  articles  were  carried  in  the  procession,  were  inlaid  with  tortoise-shell, 
AS  is  now  the  case  with  many  articles  of  furniture."  Krause. 

*3  Six  hundred  thousand  sestertia]  Something  more  than  4,800,000f. 


470  VKLLEIUS   PATKRCULUS.  BOOK  IT. 

of  Hirtius  and  Pansa,  who  had  always  warned  C;csar  to  pre- 
serve by  arms  the  sovereignty  which  by  arms  he  had  acquired  ; 
but  he  constantly  declared  that  he  would  rather  die  than'  live 
in  constant  fear  of  death  ;  and  thus,  while  he  expected  to  meet 
the  same  good  feeling  that  he  had  shown  to  others,  he  was  cut 
off  by  the  ungrateful  men  around  him.  The  immortal  gods  had 
given  him  many  presages  and  signs  of  his  approaching  danger ; 
for  the  aruspices  had  forewarned  him  carefully  to  beware  of  the 
ides  of  March ;  his  wife  Calpurnia,  terrified  by  a  vision  in  the 
night,  besought  him  to  stay  at  home  that  day ;  and  he  received 
a  paper  from  one  that  met  him,  containing  an  account  of  the 
conspiracy,  but  which  he  did  not  read.  Surely  the  resistless 
power  of  fate,  when  it  determines  to  reverse  a  man's  fortune, 
confounds  his  understanding ! 

LVIII.  The  year  that  they  perpetrated  this  deed,  Brutus  and 
Cassius  were  praetors,  and  Decimus  Brutus  consul  elect.  These, 
with  the  body  of  conspirators,  attended  by  a  band  of  gladiators 
belonging  to  Decimus  Brutus,  seized  on  the  Capitol.  On  this 
Mark  Antony  the  consul  convened  the  senate.  Cassius  had 
proposed  that  Antony  should  be  killed  at  the  same  time  with 
CaBsar,  and  that  Caesar's  will  should  be  annulled ;  but  this  was 
overruled  by  Brutus,  who  insisted  that  the  citizens  ought  to 
seek  no  more  than  the  blood  of  the  tyrant ;  for  so,  to  palliate 
his  own  conduct,  he  thought  proper  to  call  Caesar.  In  the 
mean  time,  Dolabella,  whom  Caesar  had  destined  for  his  suc- 
cessor in  the  consulship,  laid  hold  on  the  fasces  and  badges  of 
that  office  ;  and  Antony,  as  wishing  to  preserve  peace,  sent  his 
own  sons  into  the  Capitol  as  hostages,  and  pledged  his  faith  to 
the  murderers  of  Caasar,  that  they  might  come  down  with 
safety.  Then  was  proposed  by  Cicero,  and  approved  by  a 
resolution  of  the  senate,  the  imitation  of  that  famous  decree  of 
the  Athenians,  enacting  a  general  oblivion  of  the  past. 

LIX.  Caesar's  will  was  then  opened,  by  which  he  had  adopted 
Cnaeus  Octavius,  grandson  of  his  sister  Julia,  of  whose  origin, 
though  he  himself  has  anticipated  me,"  *  *  *  I  must  yet  say  a 
few  words.  Caius  Octavius,  his  father,  was  of  a  family  of  which, 
though  not  patrician,  was  of  a  highly  honorable  equestrian 
rank.  He  possessed  a  sound  understanding  and  a  virtuous  dis- 

M  TJX.  He  himself  has  anticipated  me]  Pr&venit  et*  *  *  etc.  "  Vossins 
and  Boeder  rightly  refer  prcevenit  to  Augustus  himself,  and  his  comment- 
aries on  his  life  mentioned  by  Suetonius,  Aug.,  c.  2."  Krauze.  Some 
words,  which  introduces  the  account  of  Octavius's  father,  have  been  lost. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  471 

position ;  his  conduct  was  distinguished  by  probity,  i  nd  his 
-wealth  was  groat.  In  standing  for  the  praetoiship,  he  was 
chosen  first  among  competitors  of  the  highest  character;  j,nd 
this  honorable  distinction  gained  him  Atia,  daughter  of  Julia, 
in  marriage.  On  the  expiration  of  his  praetorship,  the  lots  gave 
him  the  province  of  Macedonia,  where  he  was  honored  with  the 
title  of  Imperator.  On  his  way  home  to  stand  for  the  consulship 
he  died,  leaving  a  son,  who  was  under  the  age  of  manhood.  This 
youth,  who  was  brought  up  in  the  house  of  his  step-father 
Philippus,  Caius  Csesar  loved  as  if  it  were  his  own  son  ;  and  at 
the  age  of  eighteen,  as  he  had  followed  him  to  Spain,  he  made 
him  his  constant  companion  in  the  Spanish  war ;  not  suffering 
him  to  use  any  other  quarters,  or  to  travel  in  any  other  car- 
riage than  his  own  ;  and,  even  while  he  was  yet  a  boy,  honored 
him  with  the  office  of  pontiff.  When  the  civil  wars  were 
ended,  in  order  to  improve  the  young  man's  excellent  capacity 
by  a  liberal  education,  he  sent  him  to  Apollonia  to  study,  pro- 
posing afterward  to  take  him  to  the  wars  which  he  meditated 
against  the  Geta3  and  Parthians.  When  the  news  of  the  mur- 
der of  his  uncle  reached  him,  he  received  from  the  centurions 
of  the  legions  in  that  neighborhood  an  offer  of  their  support, 
and  that  of  the  troops ;  which  Salvidienus  and  Agrippa  advised 
him  not  to  reject.  Hastening  to  Rome,  he  found  at  Brundusium 
full  accounts  of  the  fall  of  CaBsar,  and  of  his  will.  On  his  ap- 
proach to  the  city,  he  was  met  by  immense  crowds  of  his 
friends ;  and  when  he  was  entering  the  gate,  the  orb  of  the  sun 
over  his  head  was  seen  regularly  curved66  into  a  circular  form, 
and  colored  like  a  rainbow,  as  if  setting  a  crown  on  the  head  of 
a  man  who  was  soon  to  become  so  great. 

LX.  His  mother  Atia  and  his  step-father  Philip  were  of 
opinion  that  he  should  not  assume  the  name  of  Ca?sar,  as  being 
likely  to  excite  jealous  feelings  toward  him  ;  but  the  propitious 
fates  of  the  state,  and  of  the  world,  claimed  him,  under  that 
name,  as  the  founder  and  preserver  of  the  Roman  nation.  His 
celestial  mind  accordingly  spurned  human  counsels,  determined 

86  The  orb  of  the  sun — regularly  curved,  etc.]  Solis  orbis — cvrratu*  crqva- 
litcr  rotundatusqvf,  in  cvlorem  arc-its.  It  is  not  possible  to  explain  these 
words  at  all  satisfactorily.  Suetonius,  in  speaking:  of  the  same  occurrence, 
Aug.,  c.  95,  says,  Circulu-g  ad  gpeciem  ccelextis  arnis  m-liem  folix  amliit;  and 
Seneca,  Q.  N.,  i.  2;  I)ion  Cassius,  xlv.  4;  and  Plin.,  H.  N.,  ii.  28.  allude  to 
the  matter  in  a  similar  way.  Hence  Hottinerer,  a  friend  of  Herelius,  con- 
jectured that  we  should  read  curvatum  aqualikr  rotundatumque  versicolorem 
arcum,  etc. 


4*72  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  it. 

to  pursue  the  loftiest  designs  with  danger  rather  than  a  humble 
course  with  safety,  and  choosing  to  follow  the  direction  of  an 
uncle,  and  that  uncle  Caesar,  in  preference  to  that  of  his  step- 
father; observing  that  it  would  be  impious  to  think  himself 
unworthy  of  a  name  of  which  Caesar  had  thought  him  worthy. 

The  consul  Antony  at  first  met  him  with  haughtiness,  not  in- 
deed from  contempt,  but  from  fear ;  and  after  granting  him  an 
interview  in  Pompey's  gardens,  scarcely  allowed  him  time  to 
speak  with  him.  Soon  after,  he  spread  malicious  insinuations 
that  Octavius  was  plotting  against  him  ;  the  falsehood  of  which 
was  detected  to  his  disgrace. 

The  madness  of  the  consuls  Antony  and  Dolabella  soon  burst 
forth  into  open  acts  of  abominable  tyranny.  The  sum  of  seven 
hundred  thousand  sestertia,66  deposited  by  Gains  Caesar  in  the 
temple  of  Ops,  was  seized  by  Antony,  under  color  of  false  inser- 
tions which  he  made  in  Caesar's  registers.57  Every  thing  had 
its  price,  the  consul  setting  the  Commonwealth  to  sale.  He  even 
resolved  to  seize  on  the  province  of  Gaul,  which  had  been 
decreed  to  Decimus  Brutus,  consul  elect ;  while  Dolabella 
allotted  the  provinces  beyond  sea  to  himself.  Between  parties 
so  discordant  in  their  natures,  and  so  opposite  in  their  views, 
mutual  hatred  continually  increased ;  and  Caius  Caesar,  in 
consequence,  was  exposed  to  daily  machinations  on  the  part  of 
Antony.  . 

LXI.  The  state,  oppressed  by  the  tyranny  of  Antony,  lost  all 
vigor ;  every  man  felt  indignation  and  grief,  but  none  had 
courage  to  make  resistance ;  when  Caius  Caesar,  in  the  beginning 
of  his  nineteenth  year,  by  his  wonderful  exertions,  and  accom- 
plishment of  the  most  important  measures,  displayed,  while  act- 
ing in  a  private  character,  a  greater  spirit  than  the  senate  in 
support  of  the  republic.  He  called  out  his  father's  veterans,  first 
from  Calatia,  and  then  from  Casilinum  ;  and  their  example  was 
followed  by  others,  who  came  together  in  such  numbers  as 
quickly  formed  a  regular  army;  and  when  Antony  met  the 
troops,  which  he  had  ordered  to  come  from  the  foreign  provin- 
ces to  Brundusium,  a  portion  of  them,  consisting  of  the  Martian 

69  LX.  Seven  hundred  thousand  sestertia]  Something  more  than  5,650,- 
OOOZ. 

67  False  insertions — in  Caesar's  registers]  Actorum  ejusdem  insertis  falsis, 
clvitatibusque  *  *  *  corrwpti  commentarii.  I  have  omitted  the  last  three 
words.  Various  emendations  of  the  passage  have  heen  suggested,  but  to 
little  purpose. 


BOOK  it.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  47:} 

and  the  fourth  legions,  having  learned  the  wish  of  the  seta!.-, 
and  the  abilities  of  Caesar,  took  up  their  standards,  and  went  oil' 
to  join  him.  After  honoring  him  with  an  equestrian  statue, 
which  at  this  day  stands  on  the  Rostrum,  and  testifies  his  age 
by  its  inscription,  a  compliment  whioli,  during  three  hundred 
years,  was  paid  to  none  but  Lucius  Sylla,  Cnaeus  Pompey,  and 
Caius  Caesar,  the  senate  commissioned  him,  in  the  character  of 
propraetor,  and  in  conjunction  with  the  consuls  elect,  Hirtius 
and  Pansa,  to  make  war  on  Antony.  This  charge,  he  in  his 
twentieth  year  executed  with  the  gratest  bravery  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Mutina,  Pecimus  Brutus  was  relieved  from  a  siege-, 
and  Antony  was  forced  to  quit  Italy  in  a  disgraceful  and  solitary 
flight.  One  of  the  consuls,  however,  fell  in  the  field,  and  the 
other  died  of  a  wound  a  few  days  after. 

LXII.  Before  Antony  was  obliged  to  flee,  the  highest  honors 
were  decreed  by  the  senate,  chiefly  at  the  suggestion  of  Cicero, 
to  Caesar  and  his  army ;  but,  as  soon  as  their  fears  were 
removed,  their  real  feeling  discovered  itself,  and  their  favor  to 
Pompey's  party  was  renewed.  To  Brutus  and  Cassius  were 
decreed  those  provinces,  which  they  themselves,  without  any 
authority  from  the  senate,  had  already  seized ;  those  who  fur- 
nished them  with  troops  were  commended,  and  all  the  foreign 
settlements  were  committed  to  their  direction.  For  Marcus 
Brutus  and  Caius  Cassius,  at  one  time  fearing  the  arms  of 
Antony,  at  another  time  counterfeiting  fear  in  order  to  increase 
the  odium  against  him,  had  published  declarations,  that  they 
would  willingly  live  even  all  their  lives  in  exile,  if  harmony 
could  by  that  means  be  established  in  the  republic ;  that  they 
would  never  afford  occasion  for  a  civil  war,  but  were  satisfied 
with  the  honor  which  they  enjoyed  in  the  consciousness  of  what 
they  had  done ;  and,  leaving  Rome  and  Italy,  with  settled  and 
similar  intentions,  they  had,  without  any  public  commission, 
possessed  themselves  of  the  provinces  and  armies  ;  and  pretend- 
ing that  wherever  they  were,  there  was  the  Commonwealth,  had 
received  from  such  as  were  willing  to  gratify  them  the  sums  of 
money  which  used  to  be  transmitted  to  Rome  from  the  foreign 
provinces  by  the  quaestors.  All  these  proceedings  were  recited 
and  approved  in  decrees  of  the  senate.  To  Decimus  Brutus, 
because  he  had  escaped  with  life  by  the  kindness  of  another, 
a  triumph  was  even  voted.  The  bodies  of  Hirtius  and  Pansa 
were  honored  with  a  funeral  at  the  public  expense.  So  little 


474  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

regard  was  paid  to  Caesar,  that  the  deputies  who  were  sent  to 
the  army,  were  directed  to  address  themselves  to  the  soldiers  in 
his  absence.  But  the  army  was  not  so  ungrateful  as  the  senate ; 
for,  though  Caesar  bore  the  affront,  pretending  not  to  notice  it, 
the  soldiers  refused  to  listen  to  any  directions  unless  their  gene- 
ral were  present.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Cicero,  out  of  his 
rooted  love  of  Pompey's  party,  gave  his  opinion,  that  Caesar  was 
"  laudandus  et  tolleudus  i"68  saying  one  thing  while  he  wished 
that  another  should  be  understood. 

LXIII.  Meanwhile  Antony,  having  fled  across  the  Alps,  and 
meeting  a  repulse  in  a  conference  with  Lepidus  (who  had  been 
clandestinely  made  pontifex  maximus  in  the  room  of  Caius 
Caesar,  and  though  appointed  to  the  government  of  Spain,  still 
delayed  in  Gaul),  came  afterward  frequently  before  the  eyes  of 
the  soldiers,  by  whom,  as  any  commander  was  preferable  to 
Lepidus,  and  Antony,  when  sober,  was  superior  to  many,  he  was 
admitted  at  the  rear  of  the  camp  through  a  breach  which  they 
made  in  the  rampart ;  but  while  he  took  the  entire  direction  of 
affairs,  he  still  yielded  to  Lepidus  the  title  of  commander. 
About  the  time  that  he  entered  the  camp,  Juventius  Laterensis, 
a  man  whose  life  was  consistent  with  his  death,  having  earnestly 
dissuaded  Lepidus  from  joining  Antony,  who  had  been  pro- 
claimed a  rebel,  and  finding  his  counsel  disregarded,  ran  him- 
self through  with  his  sword.  Plancus,  with  his  usual  duplicity, 
after  long  debating  in  his  mind  which  party  he  should  follow, 
and  with  much  difficulty  forming  a  resolution,  supported  for 
some  time  Decimus  Brutus  who  was  consul  elect,  and  his  own 
colleague),  boasting  of  acting  thus  in  letters  to  the  senate  ;  but 
soon  after  betrayed  him.  Asinius  Pollio  was  steadfast  in  his 
purpose,  faithful  to  the  Julian  party,  and  adverse  to  that  of 
Pompey.  Both  these  officers  made  over  their  troops  to 
Antony. 

LXIV.  Decimus  Brutus,  being  first  deserted  by  Ptancus,  and 
then  endangered  by  his  plots,  and  seeing  his  troops,  too,  gradu- 
ally forsaking  him,  betook  himself  to  flight,  and  was  slain  by 
some  of  Antony's  emissaries,  in  the  house  of  a  friend,  a  noble- 
man named  Camelus,  thus  suffering  just  punishment  for  his  con- 
duct to  Caius  Caesar,  to  whom  he  was  under  the  greatest 

Bfi  LXII.  Laudandus  et  tollendus]  The  play  on  the  -word  tollendiis  can  not 
be  rendered.  Tollo  means  not  only  to  raise  or  extol,  but  to  take  out  of  (ht 
way.  It  is  aa  if  we  should  say  of  a  man  that  merits  hanging,  that  ho  de- 
serves to  be  exalted. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  475 

obligations.  For,  though  he  had  been  the  most  intimate  of  all 
his  friends,  he  became  his  murderer,  and  threw  on  his  benefac- 
tor the  odium  of  that  fortune  of  which  he  had  reaped  the  bene- 
fit He  thought  it  just  that  he  should  retain  the  favors  which 
he  had  received  from  Caesar,  and  that  Caesar,  who  had  given 
them,  should  perish.  It  was  during  these  times  that  Marcus 
Tullius,  in  a  series  of  orations,  branded  the  memory  of  Antony 
with  eternal  infamy.  He,  indeed,  assailed  Antony  in  splendid 
and  noble  language,  but  Canutius,  a  tribune,  attacked  him  with 
constant  abuse.  Their  defense  of  liberty  cost  both  of  them 
their  lives;  the  proscription  commenced  with  the  blood  of  the 
tribune,  and  ended  with  that  of  Cicero,  as  if  even  Antony  were 
satiated  with  the  death  of  such  a  man.  Lepidus  was  then  de- 
clared an  enemy  by  the  senate,  as  had  previously  been  the  case 
with  Antony. 

LXV.  A  correspondence  by  letter  was  then  commenced 
between  Lepidus,  Caesar,  and  Antony.  Hints  were  thrown  out 
of  an  accommodation,  while  Antony  frequently  reminded  Caesar 
how  hostile  to  him  Pompey's  party  was,  to  what  a  height  of 
power  it  had  already  arisen,  and  with  what  zeal,  on  the  part  of 
Cicero,  Brutus  and  Cassius  were  extolled  ;  declaring  that  if  Caesar 
disdained  to  come  to  terms  with  him,  he  would  join  his  power 
to  that  of  Brutus  and  Cassius,  who  were  already  at  the  head  of 
seventeen  legions ;  at  the  same  time  remarking,  that  Caesar  was 
under  stronger  obligations  to  revenge  a  father59  than  he  to 
revenge  a  friend.  Hence  a  league  of  partnership  in  power  was 
concluded  ;  and  in  compliance  with  the  exhortations  and  en- 
treaties of  the  armies,  an  affinity  was  contracted  between  Caesar 
and  Antony,  the  step-daughter  of  Antony  being  betrothed  to 
Caesar.  Cirsar  entered  on  the  consulship  with  Quintus  Pedius, 
on  the  day  before  he  completed  his  twentieth  year,  the  twenty- 
second  of  September,  seven  hundred  and  eleven  years  after  the 
building  of  the  city,  and  seventy-two  before  the  beginning  of 
your  consulate,  Marcus  Vinicius.  This  year  saw  Ventidius 
assume  the  consular  robe,  immediately  after  wearing  the  praeto- 
rian, in  that  city  through  which  he  had  been  led  in  triumph 
among  other  Piceuian  prisoners.  He  had  afterward  also  a 
triumph. 

LXVL  While  Antony  and    Lepidus  were  greatly  enraged, 

59  LXV.  To  revenge  a  father,  etc.]  It  was  more  incumbent  on  Octavius 
to  revenge  the  death  of  Julius  Caesar  than  on  Antony ;  Caesar  being  his 
adopted  son,  Antony  only  his  friend. 


470  VELLEIU3   TATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

both  of  them  having,  as  we  have  said,  been  declared  public 
enemies,  and  while  both  were  better  pleased  at  hearing  what 
they  had  suffered,  than  what  they  had  gained,  the  practice  of 
proscription,  on  the  model  given  by  Sylla,  was,  in  spite  of  Caesar's 
opposition,  which  was  vain  against  the  two,  revived.  Nothing 
reflects  more  disgrace  on  that  period,  than  that  either  Caesar 
.  should  have  been  forced  to  prosciibe  any  person,  or  that  Cicero 
should  have  been  proscribed  by  him,  and  that  the  advocate  of 
the  public  should  have  been  cut  off  by  the  villainy  of  Antony, 
no  one  defending  him,  who  for  so  many  years  had  defended  as 
well  the  cause  of  the  public  as  the  causes  of  individuals.  But 
you  have  gained  nothing,  Mark  Antony  (for  the  indignation 
bursting  from  my  mind  and  heart,  compels  me  to  say  what  is  at 
variance  with  the  character  of  this  work),  you  have  gained 
nothing,  I  say,  by  paying  the  hire  for  closing  those  divine  lips, 
and  cutting  off  that  noble  head,  and  by  procuring  for  a  fatal 
reward,  the  death  01  a  man,  once  so  great  as  a  consul,  and  the 
preserver  of  the  Commonwealth.  You  deprived  Marcus  Cicero 
of  a  life  full  of  trouble,  and  of  a  feeble  old  age ;  an  existence 
more  unhappy  under  your  ascendency,  than  death  under  your 
triumvirate;  but  of  the  fame  and  glory  of  his  actions  and 
writings  you  have  been  so  far  from  despoiling  him  that  you 
have  even  increased  it.  He  lives  and  will  live  in  the  memory 
of  all  succeeding  ages.  And  as  long  as  this  body  of  the  universe, 
whether  framed  by  chance,  or  by  wisdom,  or  by  whatever  means, 
which  he,  almost  alone  of  the  Romans,  penetrated  with  his  genius, 
comprehended  in  his  imagination,  and  illustrated  by  his  elo- 
quence, shall  continue  to  exist,  it  will  carry  the  praise  of  Cicero  as 
its  companion  in  duration.  All  posterity  will  admire  his  writings 
against  you,  and  execrate  your  conduct  toward  him  ;  and  sooner 
shall  the  race  of  man  fail  in  the  world,  than  his  name  decay. 

LXVII.  The  calamity  of  this  whole  period  no  one  can  suffi- 
ciently deplore  ;  much  less  can  any  one  find  language  to  express 
it.  One  thing  demands  observation,  that  there  prevailed  toward 
the  proscribed  the  utmost  fidelity  in  their  wives,  a  moderate 
share  of  it  in  their  freedmen,  some  portion  in  their  slaves,  and 
in  their  sons  none  at  all ;  so  intolerable  to  men  is  the  delay  of 
hope,  on  whatever  grounds  it  be  conceived.  That  nothing, 
however,  should  be  left  inviolate,  Antony,  as  if  for  an  attraction 
and  excitement  to  atrocities,  proscribed  his  uncle  Lucius  Caesar, 
and  Lepidus  his  brother  Paulus.  Plancus,  too,  had  interest 


BOOK  u.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  477 

enough  to  procure  a  like  sentence  upon  his  brother  Plotius 
Plancus.  Among  the  jests  of  the  soldiers,  accordingly,  who, 
;imid  the  curses  of  their  countrymen,  followed  the  chariots  of  Le- 
pidus  and  Plancus,  they  made  use  of  this  expression,  "The  consuls 
triumph  over  Germans,"  (that  is,  brothers),60  "not  over  Gauls." 
LXV11I.  Let  us  here  mention  an  affair  which  was  omitted 
in  its  proper  place  ;  for  the  character  of  the  agent  does  not  al- 
low a  screen  to  be  cast  over  his  act.  While  Caesar  was  de- 
ciding by  arms  the  fate  of  the  empire  at  Pharsalia,  Marcus 
Cnelius,  a  man  nearly  resembling  Curio  in  eloquence  and 
ability,  but  his  superior  in  both,  and  not  less  ingeniously 
vicious,  proposed  iu  his  praetorship,  as  he  could  not  be  saved 
by  quiet  and  moderate  means  (for  his  property  was  in  a  more 
desperate  state  than  even  his  mind),  a  law  for  the  relief  of 
debtors;  nor  could  he  be  deterred  from  his  purpose  by  the 
influence  of  the  senate  or  the  consul,  but  called  to  his  aid  An- 
nius  Milo  (who  was  incensed  against  the  Julian  party,  because 
he  had  not  obtained  a  repeal  of  his  banishment),  and  endeavor- 
ed to  raise  a  sedition  in  the  city,  and  secretly  to  stir  up  war  in 
the  country  ;  however,  by  the  authority  of  the  senate,  he  was 
first  banished,  and  soon  after  cut  off  by  the  arms  of  the  consuls 
near  Thurii.  Similar  fortune  attended  Milo  in  a  similar  at- 
tempt ;  for  while  he  was  besieging  Compsa,  a  town  of  the  Hir- 
pini,  he  was  killed  by  the  stroke  of  a  stone,  and  paid  the  pen- 
alty of  his  offenses  against  Publius  Clodius,  and  against  his 
country,  on  which  he  was  making  war.  He  was  a  restless 
character,  and  carried  his  bravery  even  to  rashness.  But  since 
I  am  reverting  to  things  omitted,  let  me  observe,  that  Marullus 
Epidius  and  Flavius  Csesetius,  tribunes  of  the  people,  having 
used  intemperate  and  unseasonable  liberties  in  prejudice  of 
Caius  Caesar,  and  having  charged  him  with  aspiring  to  royalty, 
were  very  near  feeling  the  force  of  absolute  power.  Yet  the 
anger  of  the  prince,  though  often  provoked,  went  no  further 
than  this,  that,  satisfied  with  a  sentence  of  disgrace  from  the 
censors,  instead  of  the  punishment  which  a  dictator  might  in- 
flict, he  banished  them  from  the  country,  declaring  that  it  was 
a  great  unhappiness  to  him,  to  be  obliged  either  to  depart  from 
his  nature,  or  suffer  his  dignity  to  be  violated.  But  I  must  re- 
turn to  the  course  of  my  narrative. 

•°  LXVII.  Germans  (that  »'<?,  brothers),  etc.]  De  Germanls.     A  play  on 
the  Latiu  word  Gu»inanu8. 


478  VBLLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  a 

LXIX.  In  Asia,  Dolabella,  having  by  a  stratagem  deluded 
Caius  Trebouius,  who  had  been  consul,  and  with  whom  he  was 
at  enmity,  had  slain  him  at  Smyrna.  Trebonius  was  a  man 
most  ungrateful  for  the  kindnesses  of  Caesar,  and  a  participator 
in  the  murder  of  him  by  whom  he  had  been  raised  to  the  dig- 
nity of  consul.  In  Syria,  Caius  Cassius,  having  received  some 
legions  from  Statius  Murcus  and  Crispus  Marcius,  who  had 
been  praetors,  and  were  at  the  head  of  a  very  powerful  force, 
shut  up  Dolabella  in  Laodicea  (for  he,  finding  Asia  pre-occu- 
pied,  had  proceeleJ  into  Syria),  and,  having  taken  the  town, 

Eut  him  to  death  (Dolabella,  with  spirit  enough,  holding  out 
is  neck  to  the  stroke  of  his  slave),  and  thus  acquired  the  com- 
mand of  ten  legions  in  that  country.  In  Macedonia,  Marcus 
Brutus  had  drawn  over  to  his  side  the  legions  of  Caius,  the 
brother  of  Mark  Antony,  and  those  of  Vatinius,  near  Dyrra- 
chium,  who  willingly  joined  him.  Antonius  he  had  attacked 
in  the  field ;  Vatinius  he  had  overawed  by  the  dignity  of  his 
character  ;  as  Brutus  was  reckoned  preferable  to  any  leader  of 
the  times,  and  Vatinius  was  considered  inferior  to  eveiy  one ; 
a  man  in  whom  deformity  of  person  vied  with  depravity  of 
mind,  so  that  his  soul  seemed  lodged  in  an  habitation  perfectly 
adapted  to  it.  He  was  seven  legions  strong. 

By  the  Pedian  law,  which  the  consul  Pedius,  Caesar's  col- 
league, hal  proposed,  a  sentence  of  banishment  had  been  passed 
on  all  persons  concerned  in  the  murder  of  Caesar  his  father. 
At  that  time,  Capito,  my  uncle,  a  man  of  senatorial  rank,  sec- 
onded Agrippa  in  the  prosecution  of  Caius  Cassius.  While  these 
transactions  were  passing  in  Italy,  Cassius  by  active  and  suc- 
cessful operations,  had  got  possession  of  Ithodes,  an  enterprise 
of  extreme  difficulty.  Brutus  had  subdued  the  Lycians,  and 
both  of  them  had  .then  marched  their  armies  into  Macedonia, 
while  Cassius,  on  every  occasion,  acting  against  his  nature,  ex- 
ceeded even  Brutus  in  clemency.  You  can  not  find  two  men 
whom  fortune  more  propitiously  attended,  or  whom,  as  if  tired 
of  them,  she  sooner  deserted,  than  Brutus  and  Cassius. 

LXX.  Caesar  and  Antony  then  transported  their  armies  into 
Macedonia,  and  near  the  city  of  Philippi  came  to  a  general  en- 
gagement with  Brutus  and  Cussius.  The  wing  that  Brutus 
commanded,  driving  the  enemy  from  the  field,  took  Caesar's 
camp ;  for  Caesar  himself,  though  in  a  very  weak  stato  of 
health,  performed  the  duties  of  a  commander  ;  notwithstanding 


BOOK  II.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  479 

he  was  urged  by  his  physician,  Artorius,  who  had  been  alarmed 
by  a  plain  warning  in  a  dream,  not  to  remain  in  the  camp. 
But  the  wing  which  Cassius  commanded,  being  routed  with 
great  loss,  retreated  to  higher  ground  ^  when  Cassius,  judging 
of  his  colleague's  fortune  by  his  own,  dispatched  a  veteran, 
with  orders  to  bring  him  an  account  what  body  of  men  it  was 
that  were  coming  toward  him  ;  but  the  veteran  being  slow  in 
bringing  the  intelligence,  and  the  band  of  men,  marching 
hastily  up,  being  just  at  hand  (neither  their  faces  nor  their 
standards  being  distinguishable  by  reason  of  the  dust),  Cassius, 
supposing  them  enemies  ready  to  rush  on  him,  covered  his  head 
with  his  robe,  and  intrepidly  presented  his  extended  neck  to 
his  freedman.  The  head  of  Cassius  had  fallen,  when  the  vet- 
eran returned  with  intelligence,  that  Brutus  was  victorious ; 
and,  seeing  the  body  of  his  general  extended  on  the  earth,  he 
exclaimed,  "  I  will  follow  him  whom  my  tardiness  has  killed, 
and  immediately  fell  on  his  sword.  In  a  few  days  after,  Brutus 
engaged  the  enemy  again,  and,  being  worsted  in  the  field,  and 
retreating  to  a  hill  in  the  night,  he  prevailed  on  Strato  of 
yEgeum,  an  intimate  friend,  to  lend  him  his  hand  in  effecting 
his  death  ;  when,  raising  his  left  arm  over  his  head,  and  holding 
the  point  of  his  sword  in  his  right  hand,  he  applied  it  to  the 
left  side  of  his  breast,  at  the  very  spot  where  the  heart  beats, 
and  throwing  himself  on  the  weapon,  was  transfixed  by  the  one 
effort,  and  immediately  expired. 

LXXI.  Messala  Corvinus,  a  young  man  of  shining  character, 
who,  next  to  Brutus  and  Cassius,  possessed  the  greatest  in- 
fluence of  any  in  the  camp,  and  whom  some  solicited  to  take 
the  command,  chose  to  be  indebted  for  safety  to  Caesar's  kind- 
ness, rather  than  to  try  any  further  the  chance  of  arms.  Nor 
did  any  circumstance  attending  his  victories  afford  greater  joy 
to  Caesar,  than  the  saving  of  Corvinus  ;  nor  was  there  ever  an, 
instance  of  greater  gratitude,  or  more  affectionate  attachment, 
than  Corvinus  showed  to  Caesar  in  return.  No  war  was  ever 
i  more  stained  with  the  blood  of  illustrious  men.  The  son  of 
Cato  fell  in  it ;  and  the  same  fate  carried  off  Lucullus  and  Hor- 
tcnsius,  sons  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  the  state.  Varro, 
when  ready  to  die,  predicted  with  great  freedom  of  speech,  in 
mockery  of  Antony,  several  circumstances  respecting  his  death, 
which  were  well  suited  to  his  character,  and  which  really  came 
to  pass.  Livius  Drusus,  father  of  Julia  Augusta,  and  Quintilius 


480  VELLEIUS  PATERGULUS.  BOOK  n. 

Varus,  did  not  even  try  the  mercy  of  the  enemy  ;  for  Drusus 
slew  himself  in  his  tent ;  and  Varus,  after  decking  himself  with 
all  the  insignia  of  his  honors,  was  slain  by  the  hand  of  a  freed- 
man,  whom  he  compelled  to  be  his  executioner. 

LXXII.  Such  was  the  end  assigned  by  fortune  to  the  party 
of  Marcus  Brutus,  who  was  then  in  his  thirty -seventh  year,  and 
whose  mind  had  been  incorrupt  till  the  day  which  obscured  all 
his  virtues  by  the  rashness  of  one  act.  Cassius  was  as  much 
the  better  commander,  as  Brutus  was  the  better  man.  Of  the 
two,  you  would  rather  have  Brutus  for  a  friend  ;  as  an  enemy, 
you  would  stand  more  in  dread  of  Cassius.  In  the  one  then; 
was  greater  ability,  in  the  other  greater  virtue.  Had  they  been 
successful,  it  would  have  been  as  much  for  the  interest  of  the 
state  to  have  had  Brutus  for  its  ruler  rather  than  Cassius,  as  it 
was  to  have  Caesar  rather  than  Antony.  Cnaeus  Donritius, 
father  of  Lucius  Domitius,  whom  we  lately  saw,63  and  who  was 
a  man  of  very  eminent  and  distinguished  integrity,  and  grand- 
father of  the  present  excellent  youth  of  the  same  name,  seized 
several  ships,  and,  with  a  numerous  train  of  such  as  chose  to 
follow  his  guidance,  committed  himself  to  flight  and  fortune, 
looking  for  no  other  leader  of  the  party  than  himself.  Statius 
Murcus,  who  commanded  a  fleet,  and  had  charge  of  the  sea, 
deserted  with  all  the  troops  and  ships  intrusted  to  him,  and 
joined  Sextus  Pompey,  son  of  Cnrcus  the  Great ;  who,  on  his 
return  from  Spain,  had  by  force  gained  possession  of  Sicily. 
The  proscribed,  whom  fortune  had  rescued  from  immediate 
danger,  flocked  to  him  from  the  camp  of  Brutus,  from  Italy, 
and  from  other  parts  of  the  world  ;  for  to  those  who  had  no 
position  in  the  state,82  any  leader  appeared  sufficient,  as  Fortune 
did  not  give  them  an  option,  but  merely  pointed  out  a  refuge ; 
and  to  those  who  are  fleeing  from  a  destructive  tempest,  any 
anchoring-place  serves  for  a  harbor. 

LXXIII.  Sextus  was  quite  illiterate,  and  in  his  language 
barbarous  ;  but  he  was  of  a  bold  spirit,  prompt  to  act,  and  quick 
to  judge.  In  sincerity,  however,  he  was  very  unlike  his  father, 
lie  was  a  freedman  among  his  own  freedmen  ;6a  a  slave  to  his 
slaves ;  envying  men  of  dignity,  to  become  subservient  to  the 

el  LXXII.  Whom  we  lately  saw]  Nuper  a  nobis  visi.  lie  had  died  a  littlo 
before. 

M  No  position  in  the  state]  Nuttum  Tiabent'Aus  statvm.     See  note  on  ii.  2. 
•3  LXXIII.  A  freedman  amon<£  his  own  freedmen]  Libertorum  suor-um 
Ho  lowered  himsef,  and  laid  himself  under  obligations  to  then:. 


COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  481 

.  To  this  young  man,  who  had  been  recalled,  after 
Antony  quitted  Mutina,  from  Spain,  where  Asinius  Pollio,  who 
had  been  praetor,  bad  carried  on  the  war  against  him  with  much 
honor,  the  senate,  which  consisted  almost  wholly  of  Pompey's 
partisans,  restored,  at  the  same  time  that  they  decreed  the  trans- 
marine provinces  to  Brutus  and  Cassias,  the  possession  of  his 
father's  property,  and  gave  him  the  command  of  the  sea-coast. 
]  laving  possessed  himself  of  Sicily,  as  we  have  just  said,  he  filled 
up,  by  receiving  slaves  and  vagabonds  into  his  troops,  a  com- 
plement of  several  legions  ;  and  having,  by  the  aid  of  Menas  and 
Menecrates,  two  of  his  father's  freadmen  who  commanded  his 
fleet,  ravaged  the  sea  with  piracies  and  rapine,  he  made  use  of 
the  plunder  to  support  himself  and  his  followers,  without  being 
ashamed  to  disturb  with  the  atrocities  of  freebooters  those  seas 
which  had  been  cleared  of  them  by  the  arms  and  exertions  of 
his  father. 

LXXIV.  The  party  of  Brutus  and  Cassius  being  crushed, 
Antony  stayed  behind,  for  the  purpose  of  settling  the  foreign 
provinces,  while  CaBsar  returned  to  Italy,  which  he  found  in  a 
much  more  turbulent  state  than  he  had  expected.  For  the  con- 
riul  Lucius  Antony,  a  partaker  in  all  his  brother's  vices,  but 
destitute  of  the  virtues  which  sometimes  appeared  in  him,  had, 
somatimes,  by  inveighing  against  Caesar  in  the  hearing  of  the 
veterans,  and  sometimes  by  exciting  those  to  arms,  who  had  not 
been  included  in  the  regular  distribution  of  lands  and  the  nomi- 
nation of  colonists,  collected  a  large  army.  On  the  other  side, 
Fulvia  the  wife  of  Antony,  in  whom  there  was  nothing  faminino 
but  the  form,  was  throwing  every  thing  into  confusion  and 
tumult.  She  had  chosen  Prasneste  as  the  seat  of  war.  Lucius 
Antony,  forced  to  give  way  in  every  quarter  to  Cesar's  superior 
strength,  retired  to  Perusia ;  while  Plancus,  a  favorer  of  Antony's 
party,  rather  held  out  hopes  of  assistance  than  afforded  him 
any.  Caesar,  relying  on  his  courage,  and  pursuing  his  good 
fortune,  took  Perusia,  and  dismissed  Antony  unhurt.  On  the 
Perusians  great  severities  were  inflicted,  rather  through  the  vio- 
lence of  the  soldiers  than  with  the  consent  of  their  commander. 
The  city  was  burnt ;  but  of  this  conflagration  Macedonicus,  one 
of  the  principal  inhabitants,  was  the  author,  who,  after  setting 
fire  to  his  house  and  effects,  stabbed  himself,  and  fell  amid  the 
flames. 

LXXV.  At  the   same  time   an   insurrection  broke   out  in 

91 


482  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOKIL 

Etruria,  which,  under  pretense  of  serving  those  who  had  lost 
their  lands,  Tiberius  Claudius  Nero,  who  had  been  praetor  and 
was  then  pontifex,  and  who  was  the  father  of  Tiberius  Caesar, 
and  a  man  of  great  spirit,  accomplishments,  and  abilities,  em- 
ployed himself  in  fomenting.  This  party  was  dispersed  and 
quelled  on  the  arrival  of  Caesar.  Who  can  sufficiently  wonder 
at  the  changes  of  fortune,  and  the  uncertain  vicissitudes  of  hu- 
man affairs  ?  Who  must  not  either  hope,  or  fear,  some  altera- 
tion in  his  present  circumstances,  or  something  contrary  to  what 
is  expected  ?  Livia,  the  daughter  of  Drusus  Claudianus,  a  man 
of  the  highest  distinction  and  "courage;  Livia,  I  say,  the  most 
eminent  in  birth,  virtue,  and  beauty,  of  all  the  Roman  ladies, 
whom  we  subsequently  saw  the  wife  of  Augustus,  and,  after  his 
translation  to  the  gocls,  his  priestess  and  daughter,64  was  now 
flying  from  the  troops  of  Caesar,  who  was  soon  to  be  her  consort, 
carrying  in  her  bosom  a  child  scarcely  two  years  old,  the  present 
Tiberius  Caesar,  the  supporter  of  the  Roman  empire  ;  and  thus, 
passing  through  unfrequented  roads,  to  avoid  the  swords  of  the 
soldiers,  accompanied  only  by  a  single  attendant,  that  her  flight 
might  the  more  easily  be  concealed,  she  made  her  way  to  the 
sea,  and  sailed,  with  her  husband  Nero,  over  to  Sicily. 

LXXVL  The  testimony  which  I  would  give  to  a  stranger, 
I  will  not  withhold  from  my  own  grandfather.  Caius  Velleius 
had  been  chosen  by  Cnaeus  Pompey  in  the  most  honorable 
place  among  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  judges  ;  he  had  been 
praefect  of  the  artificers  under  him,  Marcus  Brutus,  and  Tiberius 
Nero,  and  was  a  man  inferior  to  none.  Being  in  Campania,  at 
the  departure  of  Nero  from  Naples,  whose  party,  through  inti- 
mate friendship  for  him,  he  had  supported,  and  being  unable, 
from  the  pressure  of  age  and  weakness  of  body  to  follow  him, 
he  run  himself  through  with  his  own  sword. 

Cagsar  allowed  Fulvia  to  depart  from  Italy  in  safety,  and 
Plancus  to  accompany  her  in  her  flight.  Asinius  Pollio,  with 
seven  legions,  had  long  retained  Venetia  in  subjection  to 
Antony,  and  had  performed  many  and  brilliant  exploits  at 
Altinum,  and  in  other  parts  of  that  country;  and,  as  he  was  now 
marching  toward  Antony,  he  prevailed  on  Domitius  (who, 
having,  as  we  said  before,  quitted  the  camp  of  Brutus  on  the 
death  of  that  general,  was  still  undecided  in  his  movements,  and 

84  LXXV.  Daughter]  By  adoption  into  the  Julian  family  according  to  th» 
will  of  Augustus.  Tacit.  Ann.,  i.  8 ;  Suet.  Aug.,  101. 


BOOK  n.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  483 

at  the  head  of  a  fleet  of  his  own)  to  join  Antony's  party ; 
Domitius  being  induced  to  take  this  step  by  Pollio's  represent- 
ations and  solemn  assurances.  By  this  proceeding,  whoever 
forms  a  fair  judgment,  must  allow  that  no  less  benefit  was 
conferred  by  Pollio  on  Antony  than  had  been  bestowed  by 
Antony  on  PolHo.  Antony's  arrival  in  Italy  soon  after,  and 
Caesar's  preparations  to  oppose  him,  excited  apprehensions  of 
war ;  but  an  accommodation  was  effected  near  Brundusium. 
About  this  time,  the  wicked  schemes  of  Salvidienus  Rufus  were 
detected.  This  man,  sprung  from  the  most  obscure  parentage, 
was  not  satisfied  with  having  received  the  highest  honors,  with 
being  the  next  after  Cnaeus  Pompey  and  Caesar,  and  with  having 
raised  from  the  equestrian  rank  to  the  consulship,  but  would 
even  have  mounted  to  such  an  height  as  to  see  both  Caesar  and 
the  Commonwealth  beneath  him. 

LXXVII.  In  consequence  of  the  general  expostulations  of 
the  people,  who  were  sorely  distressed  by  a  scarcity  of  provisions 
occasioned  by  the  depredations  committed  at  sea,  a  treaty  was 
likewise  concluded  with  Sextus  Pompey  at  Misenum  ;  who,  en- 
tertaining Cassar  and  Antony  on  board  his  ship,  observed  with 
some  humor,  that  he  was  giving  a  supper  in  his  own  Carince,Kf> 
alluding  to  the  name  of  the  street  in  which  stood  his  father's 
house,  then  occupied  by  Antony.  In  this  treaty  it  was  resolved 
to  assign  Sicily  and  Achaia  to  Pompey ;  but  with  this  his  rest- 
less mind  could  not  be  long  content ;  and  the  only  advantage 
that  his  coming  produced  to  his  country  was,  that  he  stipulated 
for  the  recall  and  safety  of  all  the  proscribed,  and  of  others  who, 
for  various  reasons,  had  taken  refuge  with  him.  This  stipula- 
tion restored  to  the  republic,  among  other  illustrious  men, 
Claudius  Nero,  Marcus  Silanus,  Sentius  Saturninus,  Aruntius, 
and  Titius.  Statius  Murcus,  who,  by  joining  Pompey  with  his 
famous  fleet,  had  doubled  his  strength,  he  loaded  with  false 
accusations,  because  Menas  and  Menecrates  had  disdained  such 
a  man  as  a  colleague,  and  put  him  to  death  in  Sicily. 

LXXVIII.  At  this  period,  Mark  Antony  married  Octavia, 
(  V.-sar's  sister.  Pompey  returned  to  Sicily,  Antony  to  the  trans- 
marine provinces,  which  Labienus,  who  had  gone  from  tbo 
camp  of  Brutus  to  the  Parthians,  had  brought  an  army  of  that 

"  LXXVII.  In  his  own  Garinoe]  In  Carlnis  suis.  A  pun  on  carince,  ships, 
which  was  also  the  name  of  an  open  place,  or  street,  in  Koine. 
foro  et  lautis  mugire  Carinis.    Virg.  MU.,  viii.  361. 


484  VELLEIUS   PATBRCULUS.  BOOK  it 

people  into  Syria,  and  had  put  to  death  Antony's  deputy,  had 
disturbed  with  violent  commotions  ;  but,  through  the  courage 
and  good  conduct  of  Ventidius,  he  was  cut  off,  together  with 
the  Parthian  troops,  and  their  king's  son  Pacorus,  a  young 
prince  universally  celebrated.  Meanwhile,  Csesar,  lest,  in  such 
quiet  times,  idleness,  the  greatest  foe  to  discipline,  should  debili- 
tate the  soldiery,  made  frequent  excursions  throughout  Illyrioum 
and  Dalmatia;  and  by  inuring  the  men  to  hardships,  and  train- 
ing them  in  action,  confirmed  their  strength.  At  this  time 
Domitius  Calvinus,  being,  on  the  expiration  of  his  consulship, 
made  governor  of  Spain,  gave  an  instance  of  strict  discipline, 
comparable  to  the  usage  of  old  times  ;  for  he  put  to  death  by 
the  bastinado  a  centurion  of  the  first  rank,  named  Vibillius,  for 
having  shamefully  fled  in  the  field  of  battle. 

LXXIX.  As  the  fleet  and  fame  of  Pompey  increased  daily, 
Caesar  resolved  to  take  on  himself  the  weight  of  the  war  against 
him.  To  build  ships,  to  collect  soldiers  and  seamen,  and  to 
train  them  in  naval  exercises  and  evolutions,  was  the  charge  of 
Marcus  Agrippa,  a  man  of  distinguished  courage,  proof  against 
toil,  watching,  and  danger ;  who  knew  perfectly  well  how  to 
obey,  that  is,  to  obey  one ;  others,  he  certainly  wished  to  com- 
mand: a  general,  in  all  his  proceedings,  averse  to  delay,  and 
making  action  keep  pa?e  with  deliberation.  Having  built  a 
very  fine  fleet  in  the  Avcrniau  and  Lucrinc  lakes,  he  brought, 
by  daily  practice,  both  soldiers  and  seamen  to  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  military  and  naval  business.  With  this  fleet, 
Caesar  (having  first,  however,  with  omens,  propitious  to  the 
state,  espoused  Livia,  who  was  given  to  him  in  marriage  by 
Nero  her  former  husband)  commenced  hostilities  against 
Pompey  and  Sicily.  But  Fortune,  on  this  occasion,  gave  a  severe 
shock  to  him  who  was  invincible  by  human  power;  for  a  storm, 
arising  from  the  south-west,  shattered  and  dispersed  the  greater 
part  of  his  fleet  near  Velia  and  the  promontory  of  Palinurus. 
This  eve-.it  occasioned  a  delay  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war, 
which  was  afterward  carried  on  with  uncertain  success  on 
Caesar's  part,  and  sometimes  with  danger.  For  his  fleet  suffered 
severely  in  a  second  storm  at  the  same  place,  and  although  in 
the  first  naval  engagement  at  Mylae,  in  which  Agrippa  com- 
manded, the  issue  was  favorable,  yet  in  consequence  of  the  un- 
expected arrival  of  the  enemy's  fleet,  a  heavy  loss  was  sustained 
at  Tauromenium  under  Caesar's  eye,  nor  was  his  person  unuien- 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  485 

aced  by  danger ;  as  the  legions,  which  had  been  landed  with 
Cornificius,  his  lieutenant-general,  were  nearly  surprised  by 
Pompey.  But  the  fortune  of  this  hazardous  juncture  was 
amended  by  steady  courage  ;  for  in  a  general  engagement  at 
sea,  Pompey  lost  nearly  all  his  ships,  and  Avas  forced  to  fly  to 
Asia,  where,  by  order  of  Mark  Antony,  to  whom  he  applied  for 
succor,  while  he  was  acting  a  confused  part  between  the  gen- 
eral and  the  suppliant,  at  one  time  supporting  his  dignity,  at 
another  begging  his  life,  he  was  slain  by  Titius ;  who,  some 
time  afterward,  when  he  was  celebrating  games  in  Pompey's 
theater,  was  driven  out  by  the  execrations  of  the  people,  so 
strong  had  continued  the  detestation  which  he  had  incurred 
by  such  a  deed,  from  the  exhibition  which  he  himself  had 
given. 

LXXX.  In  prosecuting  the  war  against  Pompey,  Caesar  had 
summoned  Lepidus  from  Africa,  with  twelve  legions  containing 
half  their  complement  of  men.  This  man,  the  vainest  of  human 
beings,  who  merited  not  by  a  single  good  quality  so  long  an  in- 
dulgence of  fortune,  had  taken  the  command,  as  he  happened 
to  be  nearer  to  them  than  any  other  leader,  of  the  troops  of 
Pompey,  who,  however,  were  attracted,  not  by  his  influence  or 
honor,  but  by  Caesar's ;  and  inflated  with  vanity  at  the  number 
of  the  legions,  which  was  more  than  twenty,  he  proceeded  to 
such  a  degree  of  madness,  that,  though  he  had  been  a  useless 
attendant  on  another's  victory,  which  he  had  long  retarded  by 
dissenting  from  Caesar's  plans,  and  constantly  urging  measures 
different  from  those  recommended  by  others,  he  yet  claimed  the 
whole  credit  of  the  success  as  his  own,  and  even  had  the  assur- 
ance to  send  notice  to  Caesar  to  quit  Sicily.  But  neither  by 
the  Scipios,  nor  by  any  of  the  ancient  Roman  commanders, 
was  a  more  resolute  act  ever  attempted  or  executed,  than  was 
now  performed  by  Caesar.  For,  though  he  was  unarmed  and 
in  his  cloak,  carrying  with  him  nothing  but  his  name,  he  went 
into  the  camp  of  Lepidus,  and  avoiding  the  weapons  which 
were  thrown  at  him  by  the  order  of  that  infamous  man,  one  of 
which  pierced  through  his  mantle,  he  boldly  seized  the  eagle 
of  a  legion.  Then  might  be  seen  the  difference  between  the 
commanders.  The  armed  troops  followed  the  unarmed  leader, 
and  Lepidus,  in  the  tenth  year  after  he  had  arrived  at  a  height 
of  power  not  at  all  merited  by  his  conduct,  being  deserted  by 
Fortune  and  his  troops,  wrapped  himself  up  in  a  black  cloak. 


480  VELLEIUS   PATERCULTJS.  BOOK  TT. 

and,  passing  unobserved  among  the  hindmost  of  the  crowd  that 
flocked  about  Caesar,  prostrated  himself  at  his  feet.  His  life, 
and  the  disposal  of  his  property,  were  granted  to  his  entreaties ; 
his  dignity,  which  he  was  ill  qualified  to  support,  was  taken 
from  him. 

LXXXI.  A  sudden  mutiny  then  broke  out  in  the  army ;  for 
when  troops  consider  their  own  great  numbers,  they  are  apt  to 
revolt  from  discipline,  and  to  scorn  to  ask  Avhat  they  think 
themselves  able  to  obtain  by  force ;  but  it  was  soon  quelled, 
partly  by  the  firmness,  and  partly  by  the  liberality  of  the  prince. 
A  grand  addition  was  made  at  this  time  to  the  colony  of  Capua. 
Its  lands  were  public  property ;  and,  in  exchange  for  these, 
others,  producing  revenues  of  much  larger  value,  to  the  amount 
of  twelve  hundred  sestertia,68  were  assigned  them  in  the  island 
of  Crete ;  a  promise  was  also  given  to  them  of  the  aqueduct, 
which  to  this  day  is  an  exceedingly  fine  ornament,  productive 
of  both  health  and  pleasure. 

Agrippa,  for  his  singular  services  in  this  war,  was  reward- 
ed with  the  distinction  of  a  naval  crown,  an  honor  never  be- 
fore conferred  on  any  Roman.  Caesar  then  returned  victorious 
to  Rome,  and  a  great  number  of  houses  having  been  pur- 
chased by  his  agents,  for  the  purpose  of  enlarging  his  own, 
he  declared  that  he  intended  them  for  public  uses,  and  an- 
nounced his  purpose  of  building  a  temple  to  Apollo,  surrounded 
with  porticos,  which  he  afterward  erected  with  extraordinary 
magnificence. 

LXXXII."  During  this  summer,  in  which  Caesar  so  happily 
quelled  the  war  in  Sicily,  fortune  changed  in  the  east,  as  well 
to  his  prejudice  as  that  of  the  Commonwealth.  For  Antony,  at 
the  head  of  thirteen  legions,  having  entered  Armenia  and  Media, 
and  marching  through  those  countries  against  the  Parthians, 
had  to  encounter  their  king  in  the  field.  At  first  he  lost  two 
legions,  with  all  their  baggage  and  engines,  with  Statianus,  one 
of  his  lieutenant-generals ;  afterward,  he  himself,  to  the  great 
hazard  of  the  whole  army,  became  often  involved  in  difficulties 

«»  LXXXI.  Twelve  hundred  sestertia]  About  10,OOOZ. 

«r  .LXXXII.  The  commencement  of  this  chapter,  in  which  Krause  retains 
the  old,  unintelligible  reading,  is  translated  according  to  the  emendation 
of  Ruhnken:  Qua  cestate  Caesar  tarn  prospers  sepelivit  vn  Sicilia  helium,  for- 
tana  in  Gzsare  et  republwd  mutavit  ad  Orientem.  This  is  the  best  of  all  the 
corrections  that  have  been  proposed ;  though  the  words  in  Ccesare  et  repub- 
lica.  as  a  Gottingen  reviewer  observes  (Ephem.  Lit.,  1799,  p.  120),  will 
hardly  satisfy  every  reader. 


BOOK  n.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  487 

from  which  he  despaired  of  escape  ;  an  1  when  he  had  lost  no  less 
t'um  a  fourth  part  of  his  soldiers,  he  was  saved  by  the  advice 
and  fidelity  of  a  captive  Roman.  This  man  had  been  made  a 
prisoner  when  the  army  of  Crassus  was  cut  off,  but  as  this 
change  in  his  condition  had  produced  no  alteration  in  his  feel- 
ings, he  came  by  night  to  an  outpost  of  the  Romans,  and  gave 
them  warning  not  to  proceed  by  the  road  which  they  intended, 
but  to  make  their  escape  through  a  wooded  part  of  the  country. 
This  proved  the  preservation  of  Mark  Antony  and  his  legions,  ' 
out  of  which,  however,  and  the  whole  army,  was  lost,  as  we 
have  said,  one  fourth  part  of  the  soldiers,  and  one  third  of  the 
servants  and  slaves  ;  while  of  the  baggage  hardly  any  thing  was 
saved.  Yet  Antony  called  this  flight  of  his,  because  he  escaped 
from  it  with  life,  a  victory.  In  the  third  year  after,  having  re- 
turned into  Armenia,  and  having,  by  some  artifice,  got  its  king 
Artavasdes  into  his  power,  he  threw  him  into  chains,  which, 
not  to  fail  in  respect  for  him,  he  made  of  gold.  But  his  passion 
for  Cleopatra  daily  increasing,  as  well  as  the  strength  of  those 
vices  which  are  ever  nourished  by  wealth,  license,  and  flattery, 
he  determined  to  make  war  upon  his  country.  Previously, 
however,  he  had  given  orders  that  he  should  be  called  the  new 
Father  Bacchus ;  after  riding  in  his  chariot,  in  the  character  of 
Bacchus,  through  the  city  of  Alexandria,  with  a  chaplet  of  ivy 
on  his  head,  a  golden-colored  robe,  a  thyrsus  in  his  hand,  and 
buskins  on  his  feet. 

LXXXIII.  While  Antony  was  making  preparations  for  war, 
Plancus,  not  from  a  belief  that  he  was  choosing  the  right  side, 
or  from  love  of  Caesar  or  of  the  Commonwealth,  for  to  both  he 
was  ever  a  foe,  but  from  being  infected  with  treason  as  a  disor- 
der (having  previously  been  the  meanest  flatterer  of  the  queen, 
more  obsequious  than  any  slave,  the  letter-carrier  of  Antony, 
the  prompter  and  actor  of  the  vilest  obscenities,  venal  to  all  men 
and  for  all  purposes,  and  having  at  a  banquet  represented  Glau- 
cus  in  a  dance,  naked  and  painted  green,  carrying  on  his  head 
a  chaplet  of  reeds,  dragging  a  tail  after  him,  and  crawling  on 
his  knees),  formed  the  resolution,  on  being  coldly  regarded  by 
Antony,  because  of  certain  plain  proofs  of  his  dishonesty,  to  de- 
sert to  Caesar.  He  afterward  constructed  the  clemency  of  the 
conqueror  into  a  proof  of  his  own  merit,  alleging  that  Caesar 
had  approved  what  he  had  only  pardoned.  Titius  soon  follow- 
ed the  example  of  this  ftncle  of  his.  One  day  when  Plancus, 


488  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

in  the  senate,  charged  Antony  in  his  absence,  whom  lie  had  but 
recently  deserted,  with  many  foul  enormities,  Coponius,  who 
had  been  praetor,  and  was  a  man  of  high  character,  observed 
with  some  humor,  "  Surely  Antony  did  a  great  many  things  the 
day  before  you  left  him." 

LXXXIV.  Soon  after,  in  the  consulate  of  Ctesar  and  Messala 
Corvinus,  the  decisive  contest  was  fought  at  Actium,  where, 
long  before  the  engagement,  the  victory  of  the  Julian  party  was 
certain.  On  one  side,  both  the  soldiers  and  the  commander  were 
full  of  energy  ;  on  the  other,  every  thing  showed  want  of  spirit ; 
on  the  one,  the  seamen  were  in  full  strength  ;  on  the  other,  they 
were  greatly  weakened  by  want  of  provisions  ;  on  the  one,  the 
ships  were  moderate  in  size  and  active  ;  on  the  opposite,  more 
formidable  only  in  appearance.  From  the  one  side  not  a  man 
deserted  to  Antony ;  from  the  other,  deserters  came  daily  to 
Caesar.  Besides,  in  the  very  presence  and  view  of  Antony's 
fleet,  Leucas  was  stormed  by  Marcus  Agrippa,  Patrae  taken, 
Corinth  seized,  and  the  enemy's  fleet  worsted  twice  before  the 
final  decision.  King  Amyntas,08  adopting  the  better  and  more 
profitable  side  (for  Dellius,69  adhering  to  his  usual  practice  * 
*  *  * ),  and  Cnaeus  Domitius,  a  man  highly  esteemed,  and 
the  only  one  of  Antony's  party  who  never  addressed  the  queen 
but  by  her  name,70  came  over  to  Caesar  through  great  and  im- 
minent dangers. 

LXXXV.  At  length  arrived  the  day  of  the  great  struggle, 
when  Caesar  and' Antony,  with  their  fleets  drawn  up,  came  to 
a  general  engagement ;  one  fighting  to  save,  the  other  to  ruin 
the  world.  The  right  wing  of  Caesar's  fleet  was  intrusted  to 
Marcus  Lurius,  the  left  to  Aruntius ;  to  Agrippa  was  com- 
mitted the  management  of  the  whole  action.  Caesar  himself, 
ready  to  go  wherever  he  should  be  called  by  fortune,  might  be 
said  to  be  present  every  where.  On  Antony's  side,  the  direction 
of  the  fleet  was  given  to  Publicola  and  Sosius.  Of  the  troops 
stationed  on  the  land,  Taurus  commanded  Caesar's  and  Canidius 
1  Antony's.  When  the  engagement  began,  there  was  every  thing 

98  LXXXIV.  Amyntas]  The  successor  of  Deiotarus  in  the  kingdom  of 
Galatia. 

88  DelliusTQuintus  Delliusj  to  whom  Horace  addresses  Od.  ii.  B.  He  de- 
serted from  Dolabella  to  Cassias,  from  Cassius  to  Antony,  and  from  Antony 
to  Caesar.  Sen.  Suasor.,  i.  The  text  is  here  imperfect,  and  a  few  words 
are  omitted  in  the  translation. 

70  By  her  name]  Nomine.  Not  ualuting  her  as  a  queen,  1>ut  calling  her 
merely  Cleopatra. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  489 

ready  on  one  side,  the  commander,  the  seamen,  the  soldiers ;  on 
the  other,  nothing  but  the  soldiers.  Cleopatra  first  began  the 
flight,  and  Antony  chose  rather  to  be  the  companion  of  a  flying 
queen  than  of  a  fighting  soldiery ;  and  the  general,  whose  duty 
it  had  been  to  punish  deserters,  became  a  deserter  from  his  own 
army.  The  courage  of  his  men,  through  deprived  of  their  head, 
held  out  a  long  time  in  a  most  determined  struggle  ;  despairing 
of  victory,  they  sought  death  in  the  conflict.  Caesar,  wishing 
to  soothe  with  words  those  whom  he  might  have  slain 
with  the  sword,  and  calling  and  pointing  out  that  Antony  had 
fled,  asked  them  for  whom,  and  against  whom,  they  were  fight- 
ing. At  last,  after  a  long  effort  in  favor  of  their  absent  leader, 
they  reluctantly  laid  down  their  arms,  and  yielded  the  victory ; 
and  Caesar  granted  them  life  and  pardon  more  readily  than 
they  could  be  persuaded  to  ask  them  of  him.  It  was  univer- 
sally allowed,  that  the  soldiery  acted  the  part  of  an  excellent 
commander,  and  the  commander  that  of  a  most  dastardly 
soldier.  Who  can  doubt,  therefore,  whether  he  who  took  to 
flight  at  the  will  of  Cleopatra,  would,  in  case  of  success,  have 
regulated  his  conduct  by  her  will  or  his  own  ?  The  army  on 
land  submitted  in  like  manner,  Canidius  having  precipitatey  fled 
to  join  Antony. 

LXXXVI.  What  blessings  that  day  procured  to  the  world, 
what  an  improvement  it  produced  in  the  state  of  the  public 
welfare,  who  would  attempt  to  recount  in  such  a  hasty  narrative 
as  this  abridgment?  The  victory  was  attended  with  the 
greatest  clemency  ;  only  a  few  were  put  to  death  ;  and  these 
were  such  as  would  not  deign  to  sue  for  mercy.  From  this 
lenity  of  the  leader,  a  judgment  may  be  formed  of  the  limits 
which  he  would  have  prescribed  to  himself  in  success,  had  he 
been  allowed,  both  at  the  beginning  of  his  triumvirate  and  in 
the  plains  of  Philippi.  The  faithful  friendship  of  Lucius  Arun- 
tius,  a  man  remarkable  for  integrity  like  that  of  old,  was  the 
means  of  saving  the  life  of  Sosius,  though  Ca-sar  had  a  long 
struggle  against  his  inclination  to  spare  him.  Let  us  not  pass 
unnoticed  the  memorable  conduct  and  language  of  Asinitis 
Pollio.  Having,  after  the  peace  of  Brundusium,  stayed  at  home 
in  Italy,  having  never  seen  the  queen,  nor,  after  Antony's  mind 
was  enervated  by  his  passion  for  her,  ever  interfered  in  the 
business  of  his  party,  he  replied  to  a  request  from  Caesar  to  ac- 
company him  to  the  battle  at  Actium,  "  My  services  to  Antony 

21* 


•liii)  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  K. 

are  too  great ;  his  kindnesses  to  me  are  too  notorious  ;  I  will, 
therefore  keep  aloof  from  your  contest,  and  be  the  prey  of  the 
conqueror." 

LXXXVII.  In  the  next  year,  Caesar,  pursuing  the  queen  and 
Antony  to  Alexandria,  brought  the  civil  wars  to  a  conclusion. 
Antony  killed  himself  courageously  enough,  so  as  to  compen- 
sate by  his  death  for  many  faults  of  effeminacy.  Cleopatra, 
eluding  the  vigilance  of  her  guards,  and  causing  an  asp  to  be 
brought  into  her,  put  an  end  to  her  life  by  iis  bile,  showing  no 
signs  of  womanish  fear.  It  reflected  honor  on  Caesar's  success, 
and  his  merciful  disposition,  that  not  one  of  those  who  had 
borne  arms  against  him  was  put  to  death  by  him.  The  cruelty 
of  Antony  took  off  Decimus  Brutus  ;  and  the  same  Antony  de- 
prived Sextus  Pompey  of  life,  though,  on  conquering  him,  he 
had  pledged  his  honor  to  secure  to  him  even  his  rank.  Brutus 
and  Cassius  died  voluntary  deaths,  without  waiting  to  make 
trial  of  the  disposition  of  the  conquerors.  The  end  of  Antony 
and  Cleopatra  I  have  just  related.  Canidius  died  in  a  more 
cowardly  manner  than  was  consistent  with  his  frequent  profes- 
sions. Of  the  murderers  of  Caesar,  Cassius  Parmensis  was  the 
last  victim  of  vengeance,  as  Trebonius  had  been  the  first. 

LXXXVIII.  While  Caesar  was  employed  in  putting  the  last 
hand  to  the  Actian  and  the  Alexandrine  wars,  Marcus  Lepidus, 
a  young  man  more  amiable  in  person  than  in  mind,  son  of  that 
Lepidus  who  had  been  triumvir  for  regulating  the  government, 
by  Junia  a  sister  of  Brutus,  formed  a  plot  to  assassinate  Caesar, 
as  soon  as  he  should  return  to  Rome.  The  guardianship  of  the 
city  was  then  in  the  hands  of  Caius  Maecenas,  who  was  of  eques- 
trian rank,  but  of  a  highly  honorable  family ;  a  man  who,  when 
any  affair  demanded  vigilance,  showed  the  greatest  alacrity, 
foresight,  and  judgment,  but  who,  when  relaxation  from  busi- 
ness could  be  obtained,  indulged  himself  in  indolence  and 
pleasure  to  an  excess  of  effeminacy.  He  was  no  less  beloved 
by  Caesar  than  was  Agrippa,  but  he  was  not  so  highly  pro- 
moted, because,  through  life,  he  was  fully  contented  with  tho 
narrow  purple  ;71  he  might  have  obtained  equal  preferment,  but 

71  LXXXVIII.  Fully  contented  with  the  narrow  purple]  The  text  has  an- 
gugti  dam  pene  contenlus,  which  is  manifestly  corrupt,  for  any  trustworthy 
example  mcontentus  with  a  genitive  is  not  to  be  found.  Runnken  thinks 
that  pene  is  a  corruption  of  some  substantive.  The  Basil  editor  gives  an- 
g'usto  clavo.  For  pene}  Krause  proposes  bent  or  plane.  The  angustuy  da/vui 
was  the  badge  of  a  knight. 


I:OOK  u  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  491 

he  had  not  equal  desire  for  it.  On  this  occasion,  making  not 
the  least  stir,  but  dissembling  his  knowledge  of  the  matter,  he 
watched  the  proceedings  of  this  hot-headed  young  man,  and 
then  crushing  him  Avith  wonderful  dispatch,  and  without  any 
disturbance  either  of  men  or  business,  he  stifled  the  direful 
seeds  of  a  new  and  fast-reviving  civil  war,  the  author  meeting 
the  punishment  due  to  his  criminal  purposes.  Here  we  may 
produce  an  instance  of  conjugal  affection  parallel  to  that  of 
Calpuruia,  wife  of  Antistius,  whom  we  have  mentioned  above  ;72 
Servilia,  the  wife  of  Lepidus,  swallowed  burning  coals,  and  thus 
gained  immortal  fame  as  a  compensation  for  a  premature 
death. 

LXXXIX.  How  great  the  concourse  was,  and  how  ardent 
the  welcome  from  men  of  all  ages  and  ranks,  with  which  Cae- 
sar was  met  on  his  return  to  Italy  and  Rome ;  how  magnificent, 
too,  were  his  triumphs  and  donations,  can  not  be  fully  related 
even  in  the  compass  of  a  regular  history,  much  less  in  so  brief 
a  work  as  this.  There  is  no  good  which  men  can  desire  of  the 
gods,  none  that  the  gods  can  bestow  on  men,  none  that  can  be 
conceived  in  wishes,  none  that  can  be  comprised  in  perfect  good 
fortune,  which  Augustus  on  his  return  did  not  realize  to  the 
state,  to  the  Koinan  people,  and  to  the  world.  The  civil  Av;»rs, 
which  had  lasted  twenty  years,  were  ended,  foreign  wars  were 
suppressed,  peace  was  recalled,  the  fury  of  arms  every  where 
laid  asleep,  energy  was  restored  to  the  laws,  authority  to  the 
courts  of  justice,  and  majesty  to  the  senate  ;  the  power  of  the 
magistrates  was  confined  within  its  ancient  limits,  only  two 
praetors  being  appointed  in  addition  to  the  former  eight ;  the 
old  and  original  form  of  the  Commonwealth  was  re-established ; 
the  culture  of  the  lands  was  revived ;  reverence  was  restored  to 
religion,  security  to  men's  persons,  and  to  every  man  safe  en- 
joyment of  his  propei  ty  ;  the  old  laws  received  useful  emenda- 
tions, and  others  of  a  salutary  nature  were  introduced ;  and  the 
senate  was  chosen  without  severity,  though  not  without  strict- 
ness. The  principal  men,  who  had  enjoyed  triumphs  and  the 
highest  honors,  were  induced  by  the  encouragement  of  the 
prince  to  add  to  the  decorations  of  the  city.  He  himself  could 
only  be  persuaded  to  accept  of  the  consulship,  which  he  was 
prevailed  upon  to  hold,  though  he  made  many  endeavours  to 
prevent  it,  for  eleven  years  ;  the  dictatorship,  which  the  people 

78  Calpurnia — mentioned  above]  See  c.  26, 


492  VELLEITJS   PATERCTJLUS  HOOK  i. 

resolutely  pressed  upon  him,  he  as  resolutely  refused.  A  re<  i 
tal  of  the  wars  waged  under  his  command,  of  his  victories  that 
gave  peace  to  the  world,  and  of  his  numerous  works  both  in 
Italy  and  abroad,  would  give  full  employment  to  a  writer,  who 
should  dedicate  the  whole  of  his  life  merely  to  those  subjects. 
Mindful  of  our  declared  purpose,  we  have  laid  before  our 
readers  only  a  general  view  of  his  administration. 

XC.  When  the  civil  wars  were  composed,  as  we  have  said, 
and  the  parts  of  the  state,  which  a  long  succession  of  contests 
had  lacerated,  began  to  coalesce,  Dalmatia,  which  had  con- 
tinued rebellious  for  two  hundred  and  twenty  years,  was  re- 
duced to  make  a  full  acknowledgment  of  the  Roman  supremacy. 
The  Alps,  inhabited  by  fierce  and  barbarous  nations,  were 
entirely  subdued.  Spain,  after  much  fighting  Avith  various 
success,  was  completely  subjugated,  partly  by  C;«sar  in  person, 
and  partly  by  Agrippa,  whom  the  fiU'iidship  of  the  prince 
raised  to  a  third  consulship,  and  afterward  to  be  his  colleague 
in  the  tribunitial  power.  Into  this  province  a  Roman  army 
was  first  sent  in  the  consulship  of  Scipio  and  Sempronius 
Longus,  in  the  first  year  of  the  second  Punic  War,  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  from  the  present  time,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Scipio,  the  uncle  of  Africanus ;  and  a  war  was  main- 
tained there  for  two  hundred  years,  with  so  much  bloodshed  on 
both  sides,  that,  while  Rome  lost  several  armies  and  geneials, 
the  struggle  was  often  attended  with  dishonor,  and  sometimes 
even  with  danger,  to  her  empire.  This  province  brought  death 
to  the  Scipios;  this  province  employed  our  forefathers  in  a  dis- 
graceful contest  of  twenty  years  with  the  general  Viriathus; 
this  province  shook  Rome  itself  with  the  terror  of  the  Numan- 
tine  war.  In  this  province  was  made  the  scandalous  treaty  of 
Quintus  Pompeius,  and  the  more  scandalous  one  of  Mancinus, 
which  the  senate  rescinded  by  delivering  up  that  commander 
with  ignominy.  This  province  caused  the  loss  of  many  generals 
of  consular  and  praetorian  rank,  and,  in  the  time  of  our  fathers, 
f  exalted  Sertorius  to  such  power  in  arms,  that  during  five  years 
it  was  impossible  to  judge  whether  the  Romans  or  the  Span- 
iards were  the  stronger  in  the  field,  or  which  nation  was  des- 
tined to  obey  the  other.  This  province,  then,  so  extensive,  so 
populous,  and  so  warlike,  Augustus  Caesar,  about  fifty  years 
ago,  reduced  to  such  a  state  of  pacification,  that  the  country, 
which  had  never  been  free  from  most  violent  wars,  was  thence 


COOK  ii  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  493 

forward,  first  under  Caius  Antistius,  then  under  Publius  Silius, 
and  afterward  under  other  governors,  perfectly  exempt  from  the 
disturbance  even  of  marauders. 

XCI.  While  means  were  employed  for  establishing  peace  ia 
the  west,  the  Roman  standards  which  Orodes  had  taken  when 
Crassus  was  cut  off,  and  those  which  his  son  Phrates  had  cap- 
tured when  Antony  was  driven  from  the  country,  were  sent 
back  from  the  east,  by  the  king  of  the  Parthians,  TX>  Augustus, 
the  name  which  the  general  voice  of  the  senate  and  people  of 
Rome  had,  on  the  motion  of  Plancus,  conferred  upon  Caesar. 
Yet  there  were  some  who  felt  dissatisfied  with  this  most  happy 
state  of  affairs.  Lucius  Murena  and  Fannius  Caepio,  men  of 
different  characters  (for  Murena,  setting  aside  his  present  mis- 
conduct, might  be  esteemed  a  good  man ;  Caepio,  even  before 
this,  had  shown  himself  one  of  the  worst),  formed  a  plot  to 
assassinate  Caesar,  but,  being  found  guilty  on  a  public  trial, 
they  suffered  from  justice  that  which  they  had  intended  to 
inflict  on  another  by  violence.  Not  long  after,  Rtifua  Egnatius, 
a  man,  who,  in  every  respect,  was  more  like  a  gladiator  than  a 
senator,  but  who,  in  the  office  of  sedile,  had  acquired  a  consid- 
erable share  of  popularity,  which  he  had  increased  by  occasion- 
ally extinguishing  fires  with  the  aid  of  his  own  servants ;  so 
that  from  that  office  he  succeeded  to  the  prsetorship,  and  after- 
ward had  the  assurance  to  stand  for  the  consulate,  though  he 
was  conscious  of  being  sunk  in  every  kind  of  vice  and  infamy ; 
nor  was  his  property  in  better  condition  than  his  mind ;  this 
man,  I  say,  having  collected  a  number  of  accomplices  like  him- 
self, resolved  to  effect  Caesar's  death,  being  willing  to  die  him- 
self, if  he  could  but  cut  off  the  man  during  whose  life  he  could 
not  hope  to  prosper.  For  it  is  frequently  the  case  that  a 
desperate  man  chooses  to  fall  amid  public  ruin,  rather  than  to 
sink  by  himself,  and  desires,  if  he  must  perish,  to  escape  notice 
among  a  multitude.  But  he  was  not  more  successful  in  keep- 
ing the  secret  than  the  former  conspirators  ;  for  being  thrown 
into  prison,  he  suffered,  with  his  accomplices,  the  death  best 
suited  to  his  life. 

XCII.  Let  us  not  defraud  of  due  commemoration  the  very 
meritorious  conduct  of  an  excellent  man,  Caius  Sentius  Satur- 
niuus,  who  was  consul  at  this  time.  Caesar  was  absent,  being 
employed  in  regulating  the  affairs  of  Asia,  and  of  the  east,  and 
dispensing  by  his  presence  to  every  part  of  the  world  the 


404  VELLEIUS   PATKRCULTJS.  HOOK  n. 

blessings  of  that  peacs,  of  which  he  was  the  author.  Sentius, 
in  Caesar's  absence,  happened  to  be  sole  consul ;  and,  after 
giving  other  instances  of  conduct  distinguished  by  primitive 
strictness  and  the  greatest  firmness  of  mind,73  such  as  dragging 
into  light  the  frauds  of  the  revenue  fanners,  punishing  their 
avarice,  and  replacing  the  public  money  in  the  treasury,  he 
also,  when  presiding  at  the  elections,  supported  the  character 
of  consul  with  extraordinary  dignity ;  for  whatever  persons  he 
judged  unworthy  to  stand  for  the  qusestorship,  he  forbade  to 
declare  themselves  candidates  for  it ;  and,  if  they  persisted  in 
doing  so,  he  threatened  to  make  them  feel  the  power  of  a  con- 
sul, should  they  appear  in  the  Campus  Marti  us.  And  when 
Egnatius,  elated  by  his  popularity,  conceived  hopes,  that  as  he 
had  advanced  immediately  from  the  office  of  aedile  to  that  of 
praetor,  so  he  would  proceed  from  the  prsetorship  to  the  con- 
sulate, he  ordered  him  to  withdraw  from  the  field,  and,  on  fail- 
ing to  obtain  compliance  from  him,  he  assured  him  with  an 
oath,  that  even  if  he  should  be  elected  by  the  votes  of  the 
people,  he  would  not  return  him.  Such  conduct  I  think  com- 
parable to  any  of  the  celebrated  acts  of  the  early  consuls ;  but 
such  is  our  nature,  that  we  more  readily  bestow  praise  on 
actions  of  which  we  hear,  than  on  those  which  we  see  ;  we  view 
present  merit  with  envy,  and  past  with  veneration ;  thinking 
ourselves  obscured  by  the  one,  but  stimulated  by  the  other. 

XCIII.  Three  years  before  the  discovery  of  the  plot  of  Egn.i- 
tius,  about  the  time  of  the  conspiracy  of  Murena  and  Caepio, 
fifty  years  from  the  present  time,  Marcus  Marcellus,  son  of 
Octavia,  the  sister  of  Augustus  (whom  the  people  generally 
supposed,  if  Ctesar  should  die,  to  be  likely  to  succeed  to  his 
station,  but  suspected  that  that  dignity  would  not  be  conferred 
on  him  without  opposition  from  Marcus  Agrippa),  died  very 
young,  after  having,  in  the  office  of  aidile,  exhibited  games 
with  the  greatest  magnificence.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a 
youth  of  excellent  natural  qualities,  happy  in  temper  and 
ability,  and  capable  of  filling  the  high  station  for  which  he  was 
educated.  After  his  death,  Agrippa,  who  had  gone  to  Asia 
under  pretense  of  acting  as  deputy  to  the  prince,  but,  as  fame 
says,  choosing  to  be  out  of  the  way  during  the  present  state 

73  XCII.  By  primitive  strictness  and  the  greatest  firmness  of  mind] 
Prised  severitate  et  swmmd  constantia.  The  words  which,  follow  these,  vttere 
consulum  more  at  severitate,  are  not  translated,  being,  as  Kraus«  observes,  u 
manifest  interpolation. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  495 

of  affairs,  on  account  of  private  misunderstandings  between 
him  and  Marcellus,  returned  home  and  married  Caesar's  daugh- 
ter Julia,  who  had  been  the  wife  of  Marcellus,  a  woman  whose 
offspring  promoted  neither  her  own  nor  her  country's  happiness. 

XCIV.  During  this  period,  Tiberius  Claudius  Nero  (who,  as 
we  have  said,  was  three  years  old  when  Livia,  daughter  of 
Claudianus  Drusus,  became  the  wife  of  Caesar,  being  contracted 
to  him  by  Nero  her  former  husband),  a  youth  who  had  been 
trained  in  the  noblest  principles,  who  possessed  in  the  highest 
degree  birth,  beauty,  dignity  of  mien,  valuable  knowledge,  and 
superior  capacity,  and  who  from  the  beginning  gave  hopes  of 
becoming  the  great  man  that  he  now  is,  and  by  his  look 
announced  himself  a  prince,  began  to  act  in  a  public  character, 
being  made  quaestor  in  his  nineteenth  year;  and,  under  the 
direction  of  his  step-father,  took  such  judicious  measures,  both 
in  Rome  and  at  Ostia,  to  remedy  the  exorbitant  price  of  provi- 
sions and  the  scarcity  of  corn,  that  from  what  he  did  on  that 
occasion,  it  plainly  appeared  how  great  he  was  to  become. 
Not  long  after,  being  sent  with  an  army,  under  a  commission 
also  from  his  step-father,  to  inspect  and  regulate  the  provinces 
in  the  east,  he  displayed  in  those  countries  instances  of  every 
kind  of  virtue ;  and,  having  marched  his  legions  into  Armenia, 
and  reduced  it  under  the  power  of  the  Roman  people,  he 
bestowed  the  government  of  it  [which  had  been  taken  from] 
Artavasdes,74  on  [Tigranes].  Even  the  king  of  the  Parthians, 
awed  by  the  fame  of  his  great  character,  sent  his  own  sons  as 
hostages  to  Caesar. 

XCV.  When  Nero  returned  from  those  parts,  Caesar  deter- 
mined to  try  his  abilities  in  supporting  the  weight  of  a  difficult 
war,  giving  him,  as  an  assistant  in  the  business,  his  own  brother 
Claudius  Drusus,  whom  Livia  had  borne  in  the  house  of  Caesar. 
The  two  brothers  attacked  the  Rhaetians  and  Vindelicians  on 
different  sides,  and  having  accomplished  the  sieges  of  many 
cities  and  forts,  as  well  as  some  successful  actions  in  the  field, 
they  completely  subdued  those  nations  (though  strongly  pro- 
tected by  the  nature  of  the  country,  difficult  of  access,  abound- 
ing in  numbers,  and  of  savage  fierceness),  with  more  danger 
than  loss  on  the  side  of  the  Romans,  but  with  great  bloodshed 
on  that  of  the  enemy. 

74  XCIV.  Artavasdes,  etc.]  There  is  here  a  hiatus  in  the  text.  The  worde 
in  brackets  are  a  suggestion  of  Lipsius. 


496  VELLEIUS   PATURCULUS.  BOOK  II. 

Some  time  before  this,  the  censorship  of  Plancus  and  Paulus 
\vas  spent  in  quarreling  with  each  other,  producing  neither 
honor  to  themselves  nor  advantage  to  the  public  ;  for  one  of 
them  wanted  the  requisite  capacity,  the  other  the  requisite 
character,  for  a  censor.  Paulus  could  hardly  fill  the  office ; 
and  Plancus  ought  to  have  shrunk  from  it ;  for  he  could  not 
charge  young  men,  or  hear  others  charge  them,  with  any 
crime  of  which  he  in  his  old  age  was  not  guilty. 

XGV[.  Soon  after,  the  death  of  Agrippa,  who  had  ennobled 
his  original  obscurity  by  many  honors,  and  had  advanced  so 
far  as  to  become  father-in-law  to  Nero,  whose  sons  the  en> 
peror  Augustus,  being  his  own  grandsons,  had  adopted,  prefix- 
ing the  names  Caius  and  Lucius  to  their  own,  brought  Nero 
into  closer  connection  with  Caesar,  for  Julia,  Caesar's  daughter, 
who  had  been  the  wife  of  Agrippa,  married  Nero.  The  war  in 
Pannonia,  which  had  commenced  in  the  consulate  of  Agrippa 
and  Marcus  Vinicius  your  grandfather,  and  which,  raging  with 
great  fury,  threatened  Italy  with  imminent  danger,  Avas  then 
conducted  by  Nero.  The  Pannonian  nations,  the  tribes  of  the 
Dalmatian^,  the  situations  of  the  countries  and  rivers,  the  num- 
bers of  their  people  and  the  extent  of  their  strength,  the  nu- 
merous and  most  glorious  victories  gained  in  that  war  by  this 
consummate  general,  we  shall  describe  in  another  place.  Let 
this  work  preserve  its  character.  In  consequence  of  this  suc- 
cess Nero  enjoyed  the  honor  of  an  ovation. 

XCVII.  But  while  all  things  on  this  side  of  the  empire  were 
conducted  with  the  greatest  success,  a  severe  loss  was  sustained 
by  the  troops  in  Germany,  under  the  command  of  the  lieuten- 
ant-general Marcus  Lollius,  a  man  who  was  always  more  anx- 
ious to  get  money  than  to  discharge  his  duty,  and,  while  he 
carefully  concealed  his  vices,  was  extremely  profligate.  The 
loss  of  the  eagle  of  the  fifth  legion  called  Caisar  from  the  city 
into  Gaul.  The  change  and  management  of  the  German  war 
was  then  delegated  to  Claudius  Drusus  the  brother  of  Nero,  a 
youth  of  as  many  and  as  great  virtues  as  human  nature  can 
cherish,  or  industry  acquire  ;  and  of  whose  genius  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  it  was  better  adapted  for  the  arts  of  war  or  of 
peace.  His  sweet  and  engaging  manners,  his  courteous  and 
unassuming  demeanor76  toward  his  friends,  are  said  to  have 

73  XCVII.  Unassuming  demeanor]  Par  sui  cestimatio.  ''  Just  estimation 
of  himself." 


BOOK  IL  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  497 

been  inimitable.  The  comeliness  of  his  person  approached  very 
near  to  that  of  his  brother.  But,  when  he  had  conquered  a 
great  part  of  Germany,  after  shedding  a  profusion  of  the  blood 
of  the  inhabitants  in  various  parts,  the  cruelty  of  the  fates 
snatched  him  from  the  world  while  he  was  consul,  and  in  the 
thirtieth  year  of  his  age.  The  burden  of  the  war  then  de- 
volved on  Nero,  who  executed  it  with  his  usual  valor  and  suc- 
cess ;  and,  carrying  his  victorious  arms  over  every  part  of  • 
Germany,  without  any  loss  of  the  troops  committed  to  his 
charge  (an  object  always  of  great  solicitude  with  this  com- 
mander), he  subdued  it  so  effectually  as  to  reduce  it  nearly  to 
the  state  of  a  tributary  province.  Another  triumph,  and  an- 
other consulship,  were  in  consequence  conferred  upon  him. 

XCVIII.  While  the  transactions  which  we  have  mentioned 
passed  in  Pannonia  and  Germany,  the  military  exertions  of 
Lucius  Piso,  whom  we  behold  at  present  the  mildest  guardian 
of  the  city's  safety,  suppressed  a  furious  war  that  broke  out  in 
Thrace,  where  all  the  tribes  of  the  nation  had  arisen  in  arms. 
As  lieutenant-general  to  Caesar,  he  carried  on  the  war  against 
them  for  three  years  ;  and  partly  by  engagements  in  the  field, 
partly  by  taking  their  towns,  with  great  destruction  on  their 
side,  he  reduced  those  ferocious  people  to  submission  on  the 
former  terms  of  peace  ;  by  which  achievement  he  restored  se- 
curity to  Asia,  and  peace  to  Macedonia.  Of  this  man,  every 
one  must  think  and  acknowledge  that  his  character  is  a  com- 
position of  vigor  and  gentleness,  and  that  it  is  hard  to  find  any 
person,  either  more  fond  of  ease,  more  ready  to  undergo  the 
fatigue  of  business,  or  more  anxious  to  dispatch  what  is  re- 
quired of  him,  without  any  display  of  activity. 

XCIX.  Not  long  after,  Tiberius  Nero,  having  now  enjoyed 
two  consulships,  and  as  many  triumphs,  having  been  raised  to 
an  equality  with  Augustus  in  the  partnership  of  the  tribunitian 
power,  having  become  the  most  eminent  of  all  his  countrvmen 
excepting  one,  and  being  inferior  to  him  only  because  he  wished 
to  be  so ;  the  greatest  of  commanders,  the  most  distinguished 
in  fame  and  fortune,  the  second  luminary  and  head  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, requested  (out  of  a  surprising,  incredible,  and  un- 
speakable effort  of  affection,  the  causes  of  which  were  after- 
ward discovered,  as  he  considered  that  Caius  Cresar  had  al- 
ready assumed  the  manly  gown,  and  that  Lucius  was  now 
grown  up  to  manhood,  and  apprehended  that  his  own  splendor 


498  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

might  obstruct  the  progress  of  the  rising  youths),  leave  of  ab- 
sence from  his  father-in-law  and  step-father,  that  he  might  m  t 
from  a  continual  course  of  labors,  but  without  discovering  the 
true  reasons  for  such  a  resolution.  An  account  of  the  senti- 
ments of  the  people  on  this  occasion,  of  the  feelings  of  indi- 
viduals, of  the  tears  shed  by  every  one  on  taking  leave  of  tlii •', 
great  man,  and  how  near  his  country  was  to  insisting  on  his 
stay,  must  be  reserved  for  my  history  at  large.  But  one  thing 
must  be  mentioned  even  in  this  hasty  narration ;  that  he  spent 
seven  years  at  Rhodes  in  such  a  manner,  that  all  proconsuls 
and  legates  going  into  the  transmarine  provinces  waited  on 
him  there  with  compliments,  lowering  their  fasces  to  him  al- 
ways even  in  his  private  character  (if  such  majesty  was  ever 
private),  and  acknowledging  his  retirement  more  to  be  respect- 
ed than  their  high  employments. 

C.  The  whole  world  was  sensible  that  Nero  had  withdrawn 
from  the  guardianship  of  the  city.  Not  only  the  Parthians, 
renouncing  the  alliance  of  Rome,  laid  their  hands  on  Armenia  ; 
but  Germany,  when  the  eyes  of  its  conqueror  were  turned 
away,  rose  up  in  rebellion.  But  in  the  city,  in  that  same  year 
(thirty  from  the  present  time),  in  which  the  emperor  Augustus, 
being  Consul  with  Caninius  Gallus,  gratified  the  eyes  and 
minds  of  the  Roman  people,  on  occasion  of  dedicating  a  temple 
to  Mars,  with  most  magnificent  spectacles  of  gladiators  and  a 
sea-fight,  a  calamity  disgraceful  to  mention,  and  dreadful  to 
call  to  mind,  fell  upon  his  own  house.  His  daughter  Julia, 
utterly  regardless  of  the  dignity  of  her  father  and  husband,  in- 
dulged in  every  excess  which  a  woman  can  practice  or  allow 
at  the  instigation  of  luxury  and  libidinousness,  measuring  her 
license  to  be  vicious  by  the  eminence  of  her  station,  and  pro- 
nouncing every  thing  lawful  that  gratified  her  desires.  On 
this  occasion,  Julius  Antonius,70  who  from  being  a  conspicuous 
example  of  Caesar's  mercy  became  a  violator  of  his  house,  was 
himself  the  avenger  of  his  own  guilt.  To  this  man,  after  the 
overthrow  of  his  father,  Caesar  had  granted  not  only  life,  but  a 
priest's  office,  a  praetorship,  a  consulate,  and  the  government, 
of  provinces,  and  had  even  admitted  him  to  the  closest  affinity 
by  giving  him  in  marriage  the  daughter  of  his  own  sister. 
And  Quintius  Crispinus,  who  covered  exorbitant  wickedness 
under  a  morose  austerity  of  countenance,  with  Appius  Clau- 

i*  C.  Julius  Antonius]  Son  of  Mark  Antony,  by  Fulvia. 


HOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  499 

dius,  Sempronius  Gracchus,  Scipio,  and  others  of  less  note,  of 
both  orders,  suffered  only  such  punishment  as  they  would  have 
incurred  for  corrupting  any  ordinary  person's  wife ;  though 
they  had  defiled  the  daughter  of  Caesar,  and  wife  of  Nero. 
Julia  was  banished  to  the  island  [of  Pandataria],  and  thus  re- 
moved from  the  sight  of  her  country  and  her  parents  ;  though, 
indeed,  her  mother  Scribonia  accompanied  her,  and  remained 
a  voluntary  sharer  in  her  exile. 

CI.  A  short  time  had  intervened,  when  Caius  Caesar,  after 
making  a  progress  through  other  provinces  to  inspect  their 
condition,  was  sent  to  Syria,  and  made,  on  his  way,  a  visit  to 
Tiberius  Nero,  paying  every  mark  of  respect  to  him  as  to  a 
superior ;  but,  during  his  stay  in  the  province,  his  conduct 
was  so  variable  that  neither  would  abundant  matter  be  want- 
ing to  him  who  would  praise  it,  nor  a  siifficiency  to  him  who 
would  censure  it.  This  noble  youth  had  an  interview  with  the 
king  of  the  Parthians  in  an  island  of  the  Euphrates,  each  hav- 
ing an  equal  number  of  attendants.  This  grand  and  memo- 
rable spectacle,  of  the  Roman  army  standing  on  one  side,  and 
the  Parthian  on  the  other,  while  the  most  illustrious  heads  of 
the  greatest  empires  in  the  world  held  their  meeting,  I  had  the 
good  fortune  to  behold,  soon  after  my  entrance  into  the  army, 
being  then  a  military  tribune.  This  rank  I  attained,  Marcus 
Vinicius,  while  serving  under  your  father  and  Publius  Silius  in 
Thrace  and  Macedonia ;  and  having  since  seen  Achaia,  Asia, 
all  the  provinces  in  the  east,  and  the  mouth  and  both  shores 
of  the  Pontic  sea,  I  now  receive  much  pleasure  from  the  recol- 
lection of  so  many  events,  places,  nations,  and  cities.  The  Par- 
thian was  first  entertained  at  a  banquet  by  Caius,  on  our  bank  ; 
then  Caius  by  the  king  on  the  bank  opposite. 

CII.  On  this  occasion,  some  treacherous  schemes,  full  of 
artifice  and  deceit,  which  had  been  formed  by  Marcus  Lollius, 
whom  Augustus  had  chosen  director  of  the  youth  of  his  son, 
were  revealed  to  Caesar  by  the  Parthian  prince  ;  and  they  were 
afterward  made  public  by  common  fame.  Whether  Lollius's 
death,  which  followed  in  a  few  days,  was  fortuitous  or  voluntary, 
I  have  not  discovered ;  but  the  joy,  which  people  felt  at  his  de- 
cease, \vas  counterbalanced  by  their  grief  for  the  loss  of  Censo- 
rinus  who  died  soon  after  in  the  same  province,  a  man  formed 
by  nature  to  captivate  the  affections  of  mankind.  Caius  then 
marched  into  Armenia,  and,  at  the  beginning,  conducted  every 


500  VKLLKIUo   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  IT. 

thing  well ;  but  afterward,  in  a  conference  near  Artigera,  where 
he  had  rashly  exposed  himself,  being  severely  wounded  by  a 
man  named  Adoluus,  he  became,  in  consequence,  less  active  in. 
body,  and  mentally  less  capable  of  benefiting  the  public.  He 
had  about  him,  also,  a  crowd  of  courtiers,  who  encouraged  his 
vices  by  adulation ;  for  flattery  is  always  an  attendant  on  high 
station,  and,  by  this  means,  he  was  so  far  perverted,  that  he 
wished  to  spend  his  life  in  the  most  retired  and  distant  corner 
of  the  globe,  rather  than  return  to  Rome.  However,  after  many 
struggles  he  consented,  and  having  reluctantly  set  out  for  Italy, 
he  fell  sick  and  died  at  a  town  in  Lycia,  which  they  call  Limyra. 
His  brother,  Lucius  Caesar,  had  died  a  year  before  at  Marseilles, 
as  he  was  going  to  Spatn. 

CHI.  But  Fortune,  though  she  had  frustrated  the  hopes  en- 
tertained of  those  illustrious  names,  had  already  restored  to  the 
republic  its  own  peculiar  safeguard.  For  before  the  death  of 
either,  Tiberius  Nero  coming  home  from  Rhodes,  in  the  consu- 
late of  Publius  Vinicius,  your  father,  had  filled  his  country  with 
incredible  joy.  Augustus  Caesar  did  not  long  hesitate  as  to  his 
adoption ;  not  having  to  seek  one  whom  he  might  elect,  but  to 
elect  him  who  was  most  worthy.  What  he  had  purposed, 
therefore,  after  the  death  of  Lucius,  while  Caius  was  yet  alive, 
but  had  been  diverted  from  doing  by  the  earnest  opposition  of 
Nero,  he,  on  the  decease  of  the  two  young  men,  determined  to 
execute ;  and  accordingly  constituted  Nero  his  partner  in  the 
tribunician  power,  though  the  latter  used  many  arguments 
against  the  measure,  both  at  home  and  in  the  senate ;  and  more- 
over, in  the  consulship  of  ^Eiius  Catus  and  Sentius,  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty-seven  years  after  the  building  of  the  city,  twenty- 
seven  from  the  present  time,  and  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  June, 
he  adopted  him  as  his  son.  The  joy  of  that  day,  the  concourse 
of  all  ranks  of  men,  the  prayers  offered  by  people  stretching 
their  hands,  as  it  were,  up  to  heaven  itself,  and  the  hopes  then 
conceived  of  perpetual  security,  and  of  the  eternal  duration  of 
the  Roman  empire,  we  shall  scarcely  be  able  to  represent  fully 
in  our  large  work,  much  less  can  we  attempt  to  do  justice  to 
them  here.  I  must  be  content  with  observing  that  he  was  all  in 
all  to  every  one."  Then  shone  forth  to  parents  a  certain  hope 

77  CHI.  That  he  was  all  in  all  to  every  one]  Quam  in  illo  [omnia]  omnibus 
fv^rint.  "  How  much  all  things  were  in  him  for  all."  The  omnia  is  an 
insertion  of  Krause's,  borrowed  by  him  from  Lipsius's  conjecture,  qwm  ilk 
omnia  omnibus  fuer  it. 


BOOK  it  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  601 

of  security  for  their  children,  to  husbands  of  provision  for  their 
wives,  to  landowners  of  retaining  their  patrimony,  and  to  all 
men,  of  safety,  quiet,  peace,  and  tranquillity ;  so  that  nothing 
further  could  be  hoped,  nor  could  hope  have  a  happier  prospect 
of  fulfillment. 

CIV.  On  the  same  day  he  adopted  Marcus  Agrippa,  of  whom 
Julia  was  delivered  after  Agrippa's  death.  But  in  the  adoption 
of  Nero  an  addition  was  made  to  the  formula  in  these  very 
words  of  Caesar :  "  This  I  do  for  the  good  of  the  Common- 
wealth." His  country  did  not  long  detain  in  the  city  the 
champion  and  guardian  of  its  empire,  but  speedily  sent  him  into 
Germany,  where  a  most  violent  war  had  broken  out  three  years 
before,  when  Marcus  Vinicius,  your  grandfather,  a  man  of  the 
highest  reputation,  was  governor  there,  who  had  engaged  the 
enemy  in  some  places,  and  in  others  had  made  an  honorable 
defense ;  for  which  merits  triumphal  ornaments  were  decreed 
him,  with  a  noble  inscription  reciting  his  performances.  This 
year  made  me  a  soldier  in  the  camp  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  having 
previously  held  the  office  of  tribune.  For  shortly  after  his 
adoption,  being  sent  with  him  into  Germany  in  the  post  of 
praefect  of  cavalry,  succeeding  my  father  in  that  office,  I  was, 
for  nine  successive  years,  either  as  prefect,  or  lieutenant-general, 
a  spectator,  and,  as  far  as  the  mediocrity  of  my  ability  allowed, 
an  assistant  in  his  glorious  achievements.  Nor  do  I  think  that 
any  human  being  can  have  an  opportunity  of  enjoying  another 
spectacle  like  that  which  I  enjoyed,  when,  throughout  the  most 
populous  part  of  Italy,  and  the  whole  length  of  the  Gallic  prov- 
inces, the  people,  on  seeing  again  their  former  commander, 
who  in  merit  and  power  was  Caesar,  before  he  was  so  m  name, 
congratulated  themselves  even  more  warmly  than  they  congratu- 
lated him.  At  the  very  sight  of  him  tears  of  joy  sprung  from 
the  eyes  of  the  soldiers,  and  there  appeared  in  their  salutations 
an  unusual  degree  of  spirit,  a  kind  of  exultation,  and  an  eager 
wish  to  touch  his  hand.  Nor  could  they  restrain  themselves 
from  adding,  "  General,  we  see  you,  we  once  more  receive  you 
in  safety ;"  and  again,  "  General,  I  was  with  you  in  Armenia,'1 
"I  in  Rhretia,"  "I  was  rewarded  by  you  in  Vindelicia,"  "I  in 
Pannoni:'.,"  "  I  in  Germany ;"  all  this  can  not  be  described  iu 
words,  and  perhaps  will  scarcely  gain  belief. 

CV.  (n-rni-iTiy  was  entered  without  delay;  tho  Caninefntes, 
the  Attuaiii,  tho  Bructcri,  were  subdued;  the  Cherusci  wero 


502  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

again  received  into  submission ;  the  river  Visurgis,  afterward 
rendered  remarkable  by  a  disaster  of  our  troops,  was  crossed  ; 
the  parts  beyond  it  were  penetrated ;  while  Caesar  assumed  to 
himself  all  the  most  laborious  and  dangerous  parts  of  the  war, 
employing,  in  those  which  were  attended  with  less  hazard,  the 
services  of  Seutius  Saturninus,  who  was  then  his  father's  deputy 
in  Germany ;  a  man  of  manifold  virtues,  diligent,  active,  provi- 
dent, able  to  sustain  military  duties,  as  well  as  eminently  skilled 
in  them ;  but  who,  when  business  gave  place  to  leisure,  wasted 
his  time  in  expensive  indulgences,  yet  in  such  a  manner,  that  he 
might  rather  be  called  splendid  and  gay  than  luxurious  or  indo- 
lent. Of  his  meritorious  and  celebrated  consulship  we  have 
already  spoken.  The  campaign  of  that  year  was  protracted  to 
the  month  of  December,  and  rewarded  our  exertions  with 
abundant  success.  His  filial  affection  drew  Czesar  to  Rome, 
though  the  Alps  were  rendered  almost  impassable  by  the  winter ; 
but  in  the  beginning  of  spring  the  necessity  of  protecting  the 
empire  recalled  him  to  Germany,  in  the  heart  of  which  country, 
at  the  source  of  the  river  Lupia,78  the  general  at  his  departure 
had  fixed  his  winter  quarters. 

CVI.  Good  gods !  For  how  large  a  volume  did  we  achieve 
sufficient  exploits  in  the  following  summer,  under  the  command 
of  Tiberius  Caesar !  The  whole  extent  of  Germany  was 
traversed  by  our  army ;  nations  Avere  conquered  that  were 
almost  unknown  to  us  even  in  name.  The  tribes  of  the  Cau- 
chians  were  reduced  to  submission  ;  all  their  youth,  infinite  in 
number,  gigantic  in  size,  strongly  guarded  by  the  nature  of  the 
country,  delivered  up  their  weapons,  and,  with  their  leaders, 
surrounded  by  troops  of  our  soldiers  glittering  in  arms,  pros- 
trated themselves  before  the  general's  tribunal.  The  Longobardi, 
a  nation  exceeding  even  the  Germans  in  fierceness,  were  crushed. 
In  fine,  what  had  never  before  been  hoped,  much  less  attempted, 
the  Roman  army  carried  its  standards  to  the  distance  of  four 
hundred  miles  from  the  Rhine,  as  far  as  the  Elbe,  which  flows 
along  the  borders  of  the  Semnones  and  Hermunduri ;  and,  by 
singular  good  fortune,  the  care  of  the  general,  and  a  proper 
attention  to  the  seasons,  a  fleet  which  had  sailed  round  the  bays 
of  the  Ocean,  came  from  a  sea,  previously  unheard  of  <ind  un- 
known, up  the  Elbe  to  the  same  place,  and,  crowned  with  vic- 

78  CV.  Lupia]  Now  called  Lippe;  a  river  of  Westphalia,  rising  in  tho 
bishopric  of  Paderborn,  and  running  into  the  Rhine  near  Wcsel. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OP  ROMAN  HISTORY.  503 

tory  over  many  nations,  and  supplied  with  a  vast  abundance  of 
all  things,  joined  Caesar  and  his  array. 

CVII.  I  can  not  forbear  inserting  the  following  incident, 
whatever  may  be  thought  of  it,  among  affairs  of  so  much  greater 
magnitude.  While  we  were  encamped  on  the  hither  bank  of 
the  last-mentioned  river,  and  while  the  farther  bank  glittered 
with  the  armor  of  the  enemy's  troops,  who,  be  it  observed, 
always  drew  back  at  the  least  movement  of  our  ships,  one  of 
the  barbarians,  far  advanced  in  years,  of  extraordinary  stature, 
and,  as  his  dress  indicated,  of  the  highest  dignity,  embarked  in 
a  canoe  formed  of  a  tree  hollowed  out,  such  as  is  common 
among  those  nations ;  and,  managing  this  vessel  alone,  he 
advanced  as  far  as  the  middle  of  the  stream,  requesting  to  be 
allowed,  without  danger  to  himself,  to  land  on  the  bank  which 
we  occupied  with  our  army,  and  to  see  Caesar.  This  request 
was  granted.  Having  then  brought  his  canoe  to  the  shore,  and 
contemplated  Caesar  a  long  time  in  silence,  he  said,  "  Our  young 
men  are  certainly  mad;  they  worship  your  divinity  in  your 
absence ;  yet,  in  your  presence,  choose  rather  to  dread  your 
arms,  than  to  trust  your  faith.  For  my  part,  Caesar,  I  have  this 
day,  by  your  permission  and  favor,  seen  the  gods,  of  whom  I 
had  before  only  heard,  and  I  never  in  my  life  either  wished  for, 
or  experienced  a  day  of  greater  happiness."  Then,  having 
obtained  leave  to  touch  his  hand,  he  re-embarked  in  his  little 
vessel,  and  continually  looking  back  at  Caesar,  sailed  away  to 
the  bank  occupied  by  his  countrymen.  Victorious  over  every 
nation  and  place  that  he  had  approached,  Caesar,  with  his  army 
safe  and  unimpaired,  for  it  had  been  only  once  attacked,  and 
then  by  a  stratagem  on  the  part  of  the  enemy,  and  with  great 
loss  to  themselves,  led  back  his  legions  to  winter  quarters,  and 
returned  to  Rome  with  as  much  haste  as  he  had  used  in  the 
preceding  year. 

CVIII.  Nothing  now  remained  to  be  conquered  in  Germany, 
except  the  nation  of  the  Marcomanni,  who,  under  the  command. 
I  of  Maroboduus,  had  forsaken  her  original  abode,  and  having  re- 
tired into  the  interior  parts  of  the  country,  now  dwelt  in  plains 
surrounded  by  the  Hercynian  forest.  No  haste  could  be  an  ex- 
cuse for  passing  this  chieftain  without  notice.  Maroboduus  was 
of  distinguished  birth,  of  great  bodily  strength,  of  a  bold,  daring 
spirit,  and  though  a  barbarian  by  birth,  was  no  barbarian  in 
understanding.  He  held  a  sovereignty  over  his  nation,  not 


504  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  a 

gained  by  party  struggles  or  by  chance,  nor  variable  at  the  will 
of  his  subjects,  but  steady  and  firmly  established  ;  and,  animat- 
ed by  a  kingly  spirit,  he  determined  to  lead  away  his  people 
far  from  the  Romans,  and  to  proceed  to  some  place,  where,  be- 
ing beyond  the  reach  of  more  powerful  arms,  he  might  render 
his  own  supreme. 

CIX.  Accordingly,  having  taken  possession  of  the  country 
above  mentioned,  he  brought  all  the  neighboring  tribes  under 
his  dominion,  either  by  force,  or  by  terms  of  agreement.  He. 
had  a  guard  for  the  protection  of  his  person ;  and  his  army  be- 
ing brought,  by  continual  practice,  to  a  close  resemblance  to 
the  discipline  of  the  Romans,  he  advanced  his  power  to  such  a 
height  as  to  become  formidable  even  to  our  empire.  Toward 
the  Romans  he  so  conducted  himself,  that,  though  he  did  not 
attack  us,  he  plainly  showed,  that  if  he  should  be  attacked,  ho 
had  abundance  of  strength  and  inclination  to  make  resistance. 
The  embassadors,  whom  he  sent  to  the  Caesars,  sometimes  pre- 
sented his  respects,  as  if  he  were  their  humble  suppliant,  and 
sometimes  spoke  for  him  as  their  equal.  For  nations  and  indi- 
viduals revolting  from  us,  there  was  with  him  a  safe  refuge ; 
and  he  acted  the  part,  whol/y  or  with  but  little  dissimulation, 
of  a  rival.  His  army,  which  he  had  raised  to  seventy  thousand 
foot,  and  four  thousand  horse,  he  prepared,  by  constant  exercise 
in  warfare  against  his  neighbors,  for  more  important  business 
than  he  had  then  in  hand.  He  was  formidable  likewise  on  this 
account,  that  having  Germany  on  his  left  and  front,  Pannonia 
on  the  right,  and  Noricum  at  the  back  of  his  territory,  he  was 
dreaded  by  them  all,  as  being  always  ready  to  attack  them. 
Nor  did  he  allow  Italy  to  be  unconcerned  at  the  growth  of  his 
power;  for  the  frontier  of  his  dominions  was  distant  little  more 
than  two  hundred  miles  from  the  summit  of  the  Alps,  which 
form  the  boundary  of  Italy.  This  man  and  his  country,  Tiberius 
Caesar  resolved  to  attack  in  the  following  year,  on  different 
sides.  Sentius  Saturninus  was  accordingly  directed,  after  cut- 
ting a  passage  through  the  Hercynian  forest,  to  march  his  le- 
gions through  the  Catti  to  Boiohcemum  (so  the  country  of  Maro- 
boduus  is  called),  and  Caesar  himself  proceeded  to  lead  the  army, 
which  was  then  serving  in  Illyricum  against,  the  Marcomanni, 
by  the  way  of  Carnuntum,  the  nearest  place  in  the  kingdom  of 
Noricum  on  that  side. 

CX.   Fortune  sometimes   frustrates,  sometimes  retards,   the 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  KOMAN  HISTORY.  505 

purposes  of  men.  Caesar  had  already  prepared  winter  quarters 
on  the  Danube,  had  brought  his  army  within  five  day's  march 
of  the  enemy's  frontier,  and  had  ordered  Saturninus  to  bring 
up  his  forces  (which  were  at  nearly  an  equal  distance  from  the 
enemy,  and  were  ready  to  form  a  junction  with  Caesar  in  a  few 
days,  at  the  place  already  mentioned79),  when  the  whole  of 
Pannonia,  which  had  become  impatient  of  control  from  long 
enjoyment  of  peace,  and  Dalmatia,  now  grown  up  to  full 
strength,  having  drawn  into  a  confederacy  all  the  nations  of 
that  region,  took  up  arms  in  concert.  The  commands  of  neces- 
sity were  consequently  preferred  to  the  call  of  glory  ;  for  it  was 
not  thought  safe  to  keep  the  army  at  such  a  distance  in  the  in- 
terior country,  and  leave  Italy  open  to  an  enemy  so  near  it.  Of 
the  states  and  nations  Avhich  rose  in  insurrection,  the  number 
of  men  amounted  to  more  than  eight  hundred  thousand ;  two 
hundred  thousand  foot  were  assembled,  well  appointed  with 
arms,  and  nine  thousand  horse.  Of  this  immense  multitude, 
commanded  by  very  active  and  able  leaders,  one  part  was  in- 
tended to  march  against  Italy,  which  joins  their  country  at  the 
confines  of  Nauportum  and  Tergeste  ;  another  part  had  already 
made  an  irruption  into  Macedonia,  and  a  third  was  appointed  to 
guard  their  own  countries.  The  chief  command  was  vested  in 
three  leaders,  the  two  Batones  and  Pinnes.  With  regard  to 
the  Pannonians,  they  had  all  some  knowledge,  not  only  of  the 
discipline,  but  also  of  the  language  of  the  Romans  ;  and  most 
of  them  understood  something  of  letters,  and  were  no  strangers 
to  exercise  of  the  mind.  No  other  nation  ever  entered  on  war 
so  soon  after  resolving  on  it,  or  so  speedily  put  its  determina- 
tions in  execution.  Roman  citizens  were  murdered,  traders 
slain,  and,  in  that  quarter  of  the  country  most  remote  from  the 
general,  a  vast  number  of  soldiers80  cut  off.  All  Macedonia  was 
reduced  by  their  arms,  and  every  thing  in  every  part  wasted 
with  fire  and  sword.  So  powerful,  indeed,  were  the  apprehen- 
sions excited  by  this  war,  that  they  shook  and  alarmed  even  the 
steady  mind  of  Augustus  Caesar,  strengthened  as  it  was  by  ex- 
perience in  wars  of  such  magnitude. 

79  CX.  At  the  place  already  mentioned]  In  prcedicto  loco.    Apparently 
Curnuntum,  c.  109,  fin. 

80  A  vast  number  of  soldiers]  Magnus  numerus  vexttlariorum.     What  the 
vexittarii  were,  ia  not  quite  certain.    Ernesti,  in  his  Excursus  on  the  sub- 
ject, subjoined  to  Tacitus's  History,  thinks  that  they  were  tirones,  and  th« 
tiitnc  as  the  hastati. 

22 


506  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  11. 

CXI.  Troops  were  accordingly  levied ;  all  the  veterans  were 
every  where  called  out ;  and  not  only  men,  but  women,  were 
compelled  to  furnish  freedmen  for  soldiers,  in  proportion  to 
their  income.  The  prince  was  heard  to  say  in  the  senate  that, 
unless  they  were  on  their  guard,  the  enemy  might  in  ten  days 
come  within  sight  of  the  city  of  Rome.  The  services  of  Roman 
senators  and  knights  were  required,  according  to  their  promises, 
in  support  of  the  war.  But  all  these  preparations  we  should 
have  made  in  vain,  had  there  been  no  one  to  direct.  The  Com- 
monwealth, therefore,  requested  of  Augustus  to  give  the  com- 
mand in  that  war  to  Tiberius,  as  their  best  defender. 

In  this  war,  likewise,  my  humble  ability  found  a  post  of  hon- 
orable employment.  After  completing  my  service  in  the  caval- 
ry, and  being  appointed  quaestor,  and,  though  not  yet  a  senator, 
set  on  an  equal  footing  with  senators,  and  with  the  tribunes  of 
the  people  elect,81 1  led  from  the  city  a  detachment  of  the  army, 
intrusted  to  me  by  Augustus,  to  join  his  son.  Then,  in  my 
qusestorship,82  having  given  up  my  chance  of  a  province,  I  was 
sent  by  Augustus  as  his  legate  to  his  son  ;  and  what  prodigious 
armies  of  the  enemy  did  we  behold63  in  that  first  year  !  What 
opportunities  did  we  improve,  through  the  wisdom  of  our  leader, 
r,o  as  to  exhaust  the  fury  of  their  whole  force  by  dividing  it ! 
AVith  what  attention84  to  the  convenience  of  the  men  did  we 
see  business  managed,  under  the  orders  of  the  commander ! 
With  what  wisdom  were  the  winter  quarters  regulated  !  How 
laboriously  was  the  enemy  surrounded  with  guards  of  our  troops, 
so  that  they  might  not  make  their  way  out,  but,  destitute  of 
provisions,  and  raging  in  their  confinement,  might  waste  their 
spirit  and  their  strength  ! 

CXII.  An  exploit  of  Messalinus,  in  the  first  campaign  of  this 

81  CXI.  With  the  tribunes  of  the  people  elect]  Designatis  tribunis  plelis. 
According  to  Lipsius,  the  tribunes  of  the  people  were  at  this  period  chosen 
only  from  the  senators.  If  so,  some  particular  favor  was  shown  to  Velleius 
on  this  occasion,  allowing  him,  though  not  yet  a  senator,  to  stand  on  an 
equality  with  the  tribunes. 

85  In  my  qusestorship,  etc.]  After  taking  the  detachment  of  the  army  into 
Germany,  says  Krause,  Velleius  seems  to  have  returned  to  Eome  to  enter 
upon  his  quaestorship ;  and  then,  during  the  time  that  he  held  that  office, 
to  have  been  again  dispatched  to  Germany  by  Augustus  in  the  quality  of 
legate,  without  waiting  to  take  a  province  at  the  expiration  of  his  quosstor- 
ahip. 

M  Did  we  behold]  Vidimus.  Krause's  text  has  fudimus,  a  conjecture  of 
Ileinsius.  Burman  holds  to  vidimus,  as  savoring  less  of  boast  fulness. 

H  With  what  attention,  etc.]  Tho  text  is  here  mutilated  and  obscure. 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  507 

war,  happy  in  the  issue,  as  well  as  resolute  in  the  effort,  deserves 
to  be  recorded.  This  man,  more  noble  in  spirit  than  even 
in  birth,  most  worthy  of  having  Corvinus  for  his  father,  and 
of  leaving  his  surname  to  his  brother  Cotta,  being  appointed 
to  command  in  Ulyricum,  and,  in  a  sudden  insurrection,  being 
surrounded  by  an  army  of  the  enemy,  and  having  with  him 
only  the  twentieth  legion,  which  had  then  but  half  its  comple- 
ment of  men,  routed  and  put  to  flight  a  force  of  twenty  thous- 
and ;  an  achievement  for  which  he  was  honored  with  triumphal 
decorations. 

So  little  confidence  had  the  barbarians  in  their  numbers,  and 
so  little  reliance  in  their  strength,  that  wherever  Ca3sar  appear- 
ed they  could  not  be  sure  of  making  any  effectual  effort  against 
him.  The  division  of  their  army  opposed  to  him,  being  cut  off 
from  provisions  at  our  pleasure  or  convenience,  and  reduced  to 
mortal  famine,  and  neither  daring  to  withstand  us  when  we  as- 
sailed them,  nor  to  engage  with  us  when  we  offered  battle  and 
drew  up  in  line  before  them,  took  post  at  last  on  Mount  Claudius, 
and  protected  themselves  with  a  fortification.  But  another  di- 
vision, which  had  poured  out  to  meet  an  army  brought  from  the 
transmarine  provinces  by  Aulus  Caecina  and  Plautius  Silvanus, 
both  of  whom  had  been  consuls,  surrounding  five  of  our  legions, 
with  the  auxiliary  troops  and  royal  cavalry  (for  Rhsemetalces, 
king  of  Thrace,  had  joined  these  two  generals,  bringing  a  large 
body  of  Thracians  to  assist  in  the  war),  gave  them  such  a  blow 
as  had  nearly  proved  fatal  to  them  all.  The  king's  cavalry  was 
routed  ;  the  horse  of  the  allies  put  to  flight ;  the  cohorts  were 
forced  to  retreat ;  and  even  at  the  standards  of  the  legions85 
some  confusion  took  place.  But  the  courage  of  the  Roman 
soldiers,  on  that  occasion,  gained  them  more  honor  than  they 
left  to  their  officers,  who,  widely  differing  from  the  practice  of 
the  commander-in-chief,  found  themselves  in  the  midst  of  the 
enemy,  before  they  had  ascertained  from  their  scouts  in,which 
direction  they  lay.  In  this  perilous  emergency  (when  some  of 
the  military  tribunes  were  slain,  with  one  prefect  of  the  camp, 
and  some  prefects  of  the  cohorts,  the  centurions,  also,  not  hav- 
ing escaped,  for  some  of  the  first  rank  were  killed),  the  legions, 
encouraging  one  another,  made  a  charge  upon  the  enemy,  and, 

M  CXII.  At  the  standards  of  the  leg-ions]  Apud  signa — legion-urn.  Krnusa 
takes  signa,  for  interior  awies.  Is  apud  signa,  the  same  as  apud  ixxcillario*, 
in  Ernesti's  sense  of  vexillarii?  See  note  ou  c.  110- 


508  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  11. 

not  content  with  standing  their  ground  against  them,  broke 
their  line,  and  gained  an  unexpected  victory. 

About  this  time,  Agrippa,88  who  had  been  adopted  by  his 
natural  grandfather,  on  the  same  day  with  Tiberius,  and  had  in 
the  two  last  years  begun  to  discover  his  real  character,  plunging 
into  profligacy  with  extraordinary  depravity  of  mind  and  feeling, 
alienated  from  himself  the  affection  of  his  father  by  adoption, 
who  was  also  his  grandfather  ;87  and  soon  after,  sinking  every 
day  deeper  into  vice,  he  met  an  end  suitable  to  the  madness  of 
his  conduct. 

CXIII.  You  may  now,  Marcus  Vinicius,  conceive  Caesar  as 
great  in  the  character  of  a  leader  in  war,  as  you  see  him  in  that 
of  a  prince  in  peace.  When  he  had  united  his  forces,  those 
under  his  immediate  command,  and  those  who  had  joined  him 
as  auxiliaries,  and  had  brought  into  one  camp  ten  legions,  more 
than  seventy  auxiliary  cohorts,  fourteen  squadrons  of  horse, 
more  than  ten  thousand  veterans,  a  great  number  of  volunteers, 
and  the  numerous  cavalry  of  the  king  (in  short,  so  great  an 
army,  as  had  never  been  seen  in  one  place  since  the  civil  Avars), 
every  one  was  rejoiced  at  the  sight,  feeling  the  utmost  confidence 
of  success  from  their  numbers.  But  the  general,  the  best  judge 
of  his  own  proceedings,  preferring  the  advantageous  to  the 
showy,  and,  as  I  always  saw  him  act  in  every  war,  pursuing  what 
was  eligible  in  itself,  not  what  was  generally  recommended, 
having  allowed  the  army  that  had  joined  him  to  rest  a  few 
days,  to  recruit  the  strength  of  the  men  after  their  march,  and 
having  decided  that  it  rendered  his  force  too  large  to  be  kept 
in  order,  and  too  unwieldy  to  be  properly  managed,  ho  resolved 
to  send  it  away  ;  and,  after  accompanying  it  through  a  long  and 
most  fatiguing  march,  the  difficulty  of  which  can  hardly  be 
described  (in  order  that  as  none  would  venture  to  attack  the 
whole,  so  the  whole,  each  nation  from  apprehension  for  its  own 
territories,  might  abstain  from  attacking  cither  of  the  parties  on 
their  separation),  he  sent  it  back  to  the  parts  from  which  it 
came,  and  returning  himself  to  Siscia,88  in  the  beginning  of  a 
very  severe  winter,  appointed  lieutenant-generals,  of  whom  I 
was  ons,  to  command  the  several  divisions  in  winter  quarters. 

8«  Agrippa]  See  c.  104,  init. 

87  Also  his  grandfather]  An  inadvertent  repetition ;  "  natural  grand- 
father" occurring  above. 

*>*  CXIII.  SisciaJ  In  Pannoniu,  now  Sisbock,  at  tho  confluence  of  the  Save 
and  Colapis. 


BOOK  n.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  509 

CXFV".  His  conduct  was  truly  amazing,  not  ostentatious,  but 
distinguished  by  real  and  solid  virtue  and  usefulness,  most 
delightful  to  experience,  most  exemplary  in  its  humanity. 
During  the  whole  time  of  the  German  and  Pannonian  wars,  not 
one  of  us,  or  of  those  who  preceded  or  followed  our  steps,  was 
at  any  time  sick,  but  his  recovery  and  health  were  promoted  by 
Caesar  with  as  much  care,  as  if  his  thoughts,  which  were  obliged 
to  attend  to  such  an  infinite  variety  of  laborious  business,  had 
no  employment  but  this  alone.  There  was  a  carriage  kept  al- 
ways in  readiness  for  such  as  wanted  it,  and  a  litter  for  general 
use,  of  which  I,  as  well  as  others,  experienced  the  benefit. 
Physicians,  too,  proper  kinds  of  food,  and  the  warm  bath,  in- 
troduced for  that  sole  purpose,  contributed  to  the  health  of  all. 
Houses  and  domestics,  indeed,  were  wanting,  but  no  accommoda- 
tion that  could  either  be  afforded  or  desired  in  them.  To  this 
I  shall  add  what  every  one,  who  was  present  on  the  occasions, 
will  readily  acknowledge  to  be  true,  as  well  as  the  other  circum- 
stances that  I  have  mentioned.  The  general  alone  always 
traveled  on  horseback  ;89  he  alone,  with  those  whom  he  invited 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  summer  campaigns,  sat  at  meals.90 
To  such  as  forbore  to  follow  this  strict  mode  of  living,  he  was 
very  indulgent,  provided  they  did  no  harm  by  their  example; 
he  frequently  admonished  and  reproved,  very  rarely  punished  ; 
acting  a  middle  part,  dissembling  his  knowledge  of  most  faults, 
and  preventing  the  commission  of  others.  The  winter  contrib- 
uted much  to  bring  the  war  to  a  conclusion.  In  the  following 
summer,  all  Pannonia  begged  for  peace ;  so  that  the  remains  of 
war  were  confined  to  Dalmatia.  So  many  thousands  of  brave 
men  who  had  lately  threatened  Italy  with  slavery,  surrendering 
their  arms  (which  they  had  employed  at  a  river  called  Bathinus),91 
and  prostrating  themselves  at  the  knees  of  Caesar,  together  with 
Bato  and  Pines,  leaders  of  high  reputation,  one  captive,  the 
other  submitting,  formed  a  scene  which  I  hope  to  describe  at 
large  in  my  regular  history.  In  autumn,  the  victorious  army 
was  led  back  into  winter-quarters ;  and  the  command  in  chief 
of  all  the  troops  was  given  by  Ca3sar  to  Marcus  Lepidus,  a  man 
in  fame  and  fortune  nearest  to  the  Caesars ;  and  every  one,  the 

88  CXrV.  On  horseback]  "  Not  in  any  carriage,  or  lectica."  Euhnken. 

90  Sat  at  meals]  Canavit  secUns.     Not  reclining  on  a  couch. 

81  Bathinus]  As  this  name  for  a  river  occurs  in  no  other  writer,  Krause 
suggests  that  we  should  read  Bacuntius,  now  Bosset,  a  river  running  into 
the  Save. 


510  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

Jonger  and  better  he  knows  and  becomes  acquainted  with  him, 
the  more  he  loves  and  admires  him,  and  acknowledges  him  to 
be  a  credit  to  the  great  names  from  which  he  is  descended. 

CXV.  Caesar  now  turned  his  thoughts  and  arms  to  the 
remaining  part  of  the  war  in  Dalmatia ;  in  which  country,  how 
useful  an  assistant  and  lieutenant-general  he  found  in  my 
brother,  Magius  Celer  Velleianus,  is  testified  by  his  own  and  his 
father's  declaration ;  and  the  record  of  the  high  honors  con- 
ferred on  him  by  Caesar  at  his  triumph,  confirms  it.  In  the 
beginning  of  the  summer,  Lepidus,  having  drawn  out  the  army 
from  winter  quarters,  and  making  his  way  to  join  his  general 
Tiberius,  through  nations  unimpaired  in  strength,  still  free  from 
the  calamities  of  war,  and,  in  consequence,  daring  and  ferocious, 
he  succeeded,  after  struggling  with  the  difficulty  of  the  passes, 
and  the  force  of  the  enemy,  and  making  great  havoc  of  those 
who  opposed  him,  cutting  down  their  corn,  burning  their  houses, 
and  slaughtering  their  men,  in  reaching  the  quarters  of  Caesar, 
before  whom  he  appeared  exulting  with  victory  and  laden  with 
spoil.  In  reward  for  these  services,  which,  if  performed  on  his 
own  account,  would  have  entitled  him  to  a  triumph,  he  was 
honored  with  triumphal  decorations ;  the  will  of  the  senate  con- 
curring with  the  judgment  of  the  princes.  That  summer 
brought  this  important  war  to  a  conclusion,  for  the  Perustae 
and  Desitiates  of  Dalmatia,  notwithstanding  that  they  were  al- 
most impregnably  secured  by  their  mountainous  countries,  by 
the  fierceness  of  their  temper,  by  their  surprising  military  skill, 
and  more  especially  by  the  narrow  passes  of  their  forests,  were 
at  length,  after  being  brought  to  the  utmost  extremities,  reduced 
to  quiet,  not  by  the  orders,  but  by  the  arms  and  personal  exer- 
tions, of  Caesar  himself.  In  all  this  great  war  in  Germany,  I 
could  observe  nothing  more  noble,  nothing  more  deserving  of 
admiration,  than  that  the  general  never  thought  any  opportu- 
nity of  success  so  attractive  as  to  justify  a  squandering  of  the 
lives  of  his  soldiers ;  he  ever  judged  the  safest  means  the  most 
honorable,  and  preferred  the  approbation  of  his  conscience  to 
the  acquisition  of  fame  ;  nor  were  the  counsels  of  the  general 
ever  swayed  by  the  feelings  of  the  army,  but  the  army  was 
always  guided  by  the  wisdom  of  the  general. 

CXVL  In  the  Dalmatian  war,  Germanicus,  being  sent  for- 
ward into  various  places  of  difficulty  and  danger,  exhibited  great, 
proofs  of  courage  ;  and  Vibius  Postumus,  who  had  been  consul, 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  511 

and  was  governor  of  Dalmatia,  obtained,  by  his  activity  and 
diligence  in  the  service,  the  distinction  of  triumphal  decorations ; 
which  honor,  a  few  years  before,  Passienus  and  Cossus,  men 
celebrated  for  certain  virtues  of  opposite  kinds,  had  attained  in 
Africa.  But  Cossus  converted  this  testimony  of  his  success  into 
a  surname  for  his  son,92  a  youth  formed  by  nature  as  a  pattern 
of  every  virtue.  Lucius  Apronius,  who  shared  in  the  actions  of 
Postumus,  merited,  by  his  excellent  conduct  in  that  service, 
those  honors  which  he  afterward  obtained.  I  wish  that  it  were 
not  proved  by  more  remarkable  instances  how  much  Fortune 
rules  in  every  thing;  but  in  cases  of  this  kind  her  power  may  be 
abundantly  recognized  for  ^Elius  Lamia,  a  man  of  primitive 
manners,  who  always  tempered  with  humanity  the  severity  of 
old  times,  foiled,  after  discharging  the  most  honorable  employ- 
ments in  Germany,  Illyricum,  and  Africa,  not  of  deserving,  but 
of  an  opportunity  of  obtaining  triumphal  honors.  Aulus 
Licinius  Nerva  Silianus,  too,  son  of  Publius  Silius,  a  man  whom 
not  even  thoso  who  knew  him  could  sufficiently  admire,  was 
prematurely  snatched  away  by  fate  (all  the  hopes  of  an  excel- 
lent citizen  and  most  upright  commander  being  cut  off),  and 
prevented  from  enjoying  the  fruit  of  the  prince's  distinguished 
friendship,  and  from  attaining  a  height  of  exultation  as  lofty  as 
that  of  his  father.  If  any  one  shall  say  that  I  looked  for  a 
place  for  mentioning  these  men,  he  will  but  charge  me  with 
what  I  readily  admit ;  for  candidly  to  do  justice,  without  ex- 
ceeding the  truth,  is  no  subject  of  accusation  in  the  eyes  of  the 
right-minded. 

CXVII.  Ciesar  had  but  just  concluded  the  war  in  Pannonia 
and  Dalmatia,  when,  within  five  days  after  the  final  termination 
of  it,  mournful  news  [arrived]93  from  Germany;  that  Varuswas 
killed,  three  legions  cut  to  pieces,  as  many  troops  of  cavalry, 
and  six  cohorts  ;  the  only  favor  allowed  to  us  by  Fortune  being, 
that  [this  calamity  did  not  happen]  while  the  commander-in- 
chief  was  still  engaged  [in  the  Dalmatic  war,  when  the  rebel- 
lious Germans  might  have  formed  a  junction  with  the  enemy 
in  that  country].  But  the  occasion,  and  the  character  of  the 
leader,  demand  some  attention.  Quintilius  Varus  was  born  of 
a  noble  rather  than  illustrious  family,  was  of  a  mild  disposition, 

95  CXVI.  A  surname  for  his  son]  He  left  to  his  son  the  surname  Gcetu- 
licus. 

93  CXVII.  Arrived]  The  verb  is  wanting  in  the  original,  as  well  as  the 
vords  inclosed  in  brackets  below,  which  are  suggested  by  Vossius. 


512  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  KOOR  n. 

of  sedate  manners,  and,  being  somewhat  indolent  as  well  in 
body  as  in  mind,  was  more  accustomed  to  ease  in  a  camp  than 
to  action  in  the  field.  How  far  he  was  from  despising  money, 
Syria,  of  which  he  had  been  governor,  afforded  proof;  for,  going 
a  poor  man  into  that  rich  province,  he  became  a  rich  man,  and 
left  it  a  poor  province.  Being  appointed  commander  of  the 
army  in  Germany,  he  imagined  that  the  inhabitants  had  nothing 
human  but  the  voice94  and  limbs,  and  that  men  who  could  not 
be  tamed  by  the  sword,  might  be  civilized  by  law.  With  this 
notion,  having  marched  into  the  heart  of  Germany,  as  if 
among  people  who  delighted  in  the  sweets  of  peace,  he  spent 
the  summer  in  "deciding  controversies,  and  ordering  the  plead- 
ings before  a  tribunal. 

CXVIII.  But  those  people,  though  a  person  unacquainted 
•with  them  would  hardly  believe  it,  are,  while  extremely  savage, 
exquisitely  artful,  a  race,  indeed,  formed  by  nature  for  deceit ; 
and,  accordingly,  by  introducing  fictitious  disputes  one  after 
another,  by  sometimes  prosecuting  each  other  for  pretended 
injuries,  and  then  returning  thanks  for  the  decision  of  these 
suits  by  Roman  equity,  for  the  civilization  of  their  barbarous 
state  by  this  new  system,  and  for  the  termination  by  law  of 
disputes  which  used  to  be  determined  by  arms,  they  at  length 
lulled  Quintilius  into  such  a  perfect  feeling  of  security,  that  he 
fancied  himself  a  city  praetor  dispensing  justice  in  the  forum, 
instead  of  the  commander  of  an  army  in  the  middle  of  Ger- 
many. It  was  at  this  time  that  a  youth  of  illustrious  birth,  the 
son  of  Segimer,  prince  of  that  nation,  named  Arminius,  brave 
in  action,  quick  in  apprehension,  and  of  activity  of  mind  fat 
beyond  the  state  of  barbarism,  showing  in  his  eyes  and  coun- 
tenance the  ardor  of  his  feelings  (a  youth  who  had  constantly 
accompanied  our  army  in  the  former  war,  and  had  obtained 
the  privileges  of  a  Roman  citizen,  and  the  rank  of  a  knight), 
took  advantage  of  the  general's  indolence  to  perpetrate  an  act 
of  atrocity,  not  unwisely  judging  that  no  man  is  more  easily 
cut  off  than  he  who  feels  no  fear,  and  that  security  is  very  fre- 
quently the  commencement  of  calamity.  He  communicated 
his  thoughts  at  first  to  a  few,  and  afterward  to  more,  stating  to 
them,  and  assuring  them,  that  the  Romans  might  be  cut  off  by 
surprise;  he  then  proceeded  to  add  action  to  resolution,  and 

»<  Nothing  human  but  the  voice,  etc.]  "He  thought  them  mere  brutaa, 
and  therefore  undertook  their  transformation  into  men."  Krause. 


BOOK  IT.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  513 

fixed  a  time  for  carrying  a  plot  into  effect.  Notice  of  his 
intention  was  given  to  Varus  by  Segestes,  a  man  of  that  nation, 
worthy  of  credit,  and  of  high  rank ;  but  fate  was  not  to  be 
opposed  by  warnings,  and  had  already  darkened  the  mental 
vision  of  the  Roman  general.  Such,  indeed,  is  the  nature  of 
things,  that,  in  general,  when  the  gods95  design  to  reverse  a 
man's  good  fortune,  they  perplex  his  thoughts,  and,  what  is 
most  distressing,  make  it  appear  that  his  sufferings  happen  to 
him  through  his  own  fault,  so  that  accident  is  laid  to  the 
account  of  guilt.  Varus  refused  to  credit  the  information, 
asserting  that  he  felt  a  trust  in  the  good-will  of  the  people,  pro- 
portioned to  his  kindness  toward  them.  However,  after  this 
first  premonition,  there  was  no  time  left  for  a  second. 

CXIX.  The  circumstances  of  this  most  dreadful  calamity, 
than  which  none  more  grievous  ever  befell  the  Romans  in  a 
foreign  country,  since  the  destruction  of  Crassus  in  Parthia,  I 
will  endeavor  to  relate  in  my  larger  history,  as  has  been  done 
by  others.  At  present  we  can  only  lament  the  whole.  An 
army  unrivaled  in  bravery,  the  flower  of  the  Roman  troops  in 
discipline,  vigor,  and  experience  in  war,  was  brought,  through 
the  supineness  of  its  leader,  the  perfidy  of  the  enemy,  and  the 
cruelty  of  Fortune,  into  a  situation  utterly  desperate  (in  which 
not  even  an  opportunity  was  allowed  the  men  of  extricating 
themselves  by  fighting,  as  they  wished,  some  being  even  severely 
punished  by  the  general,  for  using  Roman  arms  with  Roman 
spirit),  and,  hemmed  in  by  woods,  lakes,  and  bodies  of  the 
enemy  in  ambush,  was  entirely  cut  off  by  those  foes  whom 
they  had  ever  before  slaughtered  like  cattle,  and  of  whose  life 
and  death  the  mercy  or  severity  of  the  Romans  had  always 
been  the  arbitrator.  The  leader  showed  some  spirit  in  dying, 
though  none  in  fighting ;  for,  imitating  the  example  of  his 
father  and  grandfather,  he  ran  himself  through  with  his  sword. 
Of  two  prefects  of  the  camp,  Lucius  Eggius  gave  as  honorable 
an  example  of  valor  as  Ceionius  gave  of  baseness ;  for,  after  the 
sword  had  destroyed  the  greater  part  of  the  army,  Ceionius 
advised  a  surrender,  choosing  to  die  by  the  hand  of  an  execu- 
tioner rather  than  in  battle.  Numonius  Vala,  a  lieutenant- 
general  under  Varus,  who  in  other  cases  conducted  himself  as 
a  modest  and  well-meaning  man,  was,  en  this  occasion  guilty 

96  CXVIII.  When  the  gods,  etc.]  A  repetition  of  the  sentiment  at  the  end 
of  c.  57. 

22* 


514  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  n. 

of  abominable  treachery ;  for,  leaving  the  infantry  uncovered 
by  the  cavalry,  he  fled  with  the  horse  of  the  allies,  and  at- 
t  -mpted  to  reach  the  Rhine.  But  Fortune  took  vengeance  on 
his  misdeed ;  for  he  did  not  survive  his  deserted  countrymen, 
Lut  perished  in  the  act  of  desertion.  The  savage  enemy  inau- 
gbd  the  half  burned  body  of  Varus;  his  head  was  cut  off,  and 
brought  to  Maroboduus,  and  being  sent  by  him  to  Cajsar,  was 
at  length  honored  with  burial  in  the  sepulcher  of  his  family. 

CXX.  On  receiving  this  intelligence,  Caesar  lurriel  home  to 
his  father ;  and  the  constant  patron  of  the  Roman  empire 
unde  took  ii:s  causy  as  usual.  lie  was  dispatched  to  Germany, 
he  secured  the  peace  of  Gaul,  arranged  the  troops,  for'dfied 
garrisons,  and  estimating  himself  by  his  own  greatness,  not  by 
the  confidence  of  the  enemy  who  threatened  Italy  with  an 
invasion  like  that  of  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones,  crossed  the 
Rhine  with  his  army.  He  thus  made  war  upon  a  nation  whom 
Ids  father  and  his  country  would  have  been  satisfied  with  keep- 
ing at  a  distance ;  he  penetrated  into  the  interior,  opened  roads, 
wasted  the  lands,  burned  the  houses,  overthrew  all  opposition, 
and  then,  with  abundance  of  glory,  and  without  losing  a  man 
of  those  who  crossed  the  river,  returned  to  winter  quarters. 
Let  due  credit  be  given  to  Lucius  Asprenas,  who,  serving  as 
lieutenant-general  under  his  uncle  Varus,  saved,  by  his  manly 
and  active  exertions,  a  body  of  two  legions  which  he  com- 
manded, from  sharing  in  that  dreadful  calamity ;  and  by  going 
down  speedily  to  the  lower  winter  quarters,  confirmed  the  alle- 
giance of  the  nations  on  the  hither  side  of  the  Rhine,  which 
had  now  begun  to  waver.  But  some  people,  while  they  allow 
that  he  saved  the  living,  are  still  of  opinion,  that  he  dishonestly 
possessed  himself  of  the  property  of  those  slain  with  Varus, 
and,  as  far  as  he  pleased,  made  himself  the  heir  of  the  slaugh- 
tered army.  The  bravery  of  a  prefect  of  the  camp,  too,  named 
Lucius  Creditius,  and  of  a  party  with  him  who  were  surrounded 
by  a  vast  multitude  of  Germans  at  Alison,  is  much  to  be 
praised ;  for,  by  forming  their  plans  with  judgment,  using 
vigilant  foresight,  and  watching  their  opportunity,  they  sur- 
mounted difficulties  which  want  rendered  insupportable,  and 
the  force  of  the  enemy  almost  insuperable,  and  opened  for 
themselves  with  the  sword  a  passage  to  their  friends.  Hence  it 
is  evident,  that  Varus,  in  other  cases  certainly  a  man  of  char- 
acter and  of  good  intentions,  lost  himself,  and  that  noble  army, 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  515 

rather  through  want  of  conduct  in  the  commander,  than 
through  deficiency  of  courage  in  the  soldiery.  While  the 
Germans  were  venting  their  rage  on  the  prisoners,  an  act 
deserving  of  renown  was  performed  by  Caelius  Caldus,  a  youth 
who  did  credit  to  his  ancient  family ;  he  took  hold  of  a  part  of 
the  chains  with  which  he  was  bound,  and  dashed  it  against  his 
head  with  such  force  that  his  blood  and  brains  gushed  out 
together,  and  he  immediately  expired. 

CXXI.  The  same  courage  and  good  fortune  which  had  ani- 
mated Tiberius  at  the  beginning  of  his  command,  still  continued 
to  attend  him.  After  he  had  broken  down  the  force  of  the 
enemy  in  various  expeditions  by  land  and  sea,  and  had  settled 
important  affairs  in  Gaul,  and  composed,  by  coercion  more  than 
by  punishment,  the  most  violent  commotions  of  the  populace 
at  Vienne ;  and  after  the  senate  and  people  of  Eome,  on  a  re- 
quest being  made  by  his  father,  that  he  might  "be  invested  with 
authority  equal  to  his  own  in  all  the  provinces  and  armies,  had 
passed  a  decree  to  that  effect  (for  it  would  indeed  have  been 
Unreasonable,  if  what  he  had  secured  should  not  be  under  his  corr- 
niaud,  and  if  he,  who  was  the  first  to  bring  succor,  should  not 
be  thought  entitled  to  a  share  of  honor),  he  returned  to  Rome, 
and  celebrated  his  triumph  over  Pannonia  and  Dalmatia,  which 
had  been  long  due  to  him,  but  had  been  deferred  on  account  of 
the  continuance  of  the  wars.  His  triumph  was  magnificent, 
but  who  can  be  surprised  at  magnificence  in  a  Caesar?  Who, 
however,  will  not  admire  the  kindness  of  Fortune  in  this,  that 
fame  did  not  tell  us,  as  was  usual,  that  all  the  greatest  leaders 
of  the  enemy  were  slain,  but  that  the  triumph  displayed  them 
to  us  in  chains  ?  On  this  occasion  my  brother  and  I  had  the 
happiness  of  accompanying  him,  among  the  most  eminent  per- 
sonages, and  those  honored  with  the  principal  distinctions. 

CXXII.  Among  other  instances  in  which  the  singular  mod- 
eration of  Tiberius  Caesar  shines  forth  conspicuously,  this 
claims  our  admiration,  that  although,  beyond  all  doubt,  he 
merited  seven  triumphs,  he  was  yet  satisfied  with  three.  For 
•who  can  doubt  that,  for  reducing  Armenia,  fixing  a  king  on  its 
throne  (on  whose  head  he  placed  the  diadem  with  his  own 
hand),  and  for  regulating  the  affairs  of  the  east,  he  ought  to 
have  enjoyed  a  triumph  ?  Or  that,  for  his  victories  over  the 
Ehseti  and  Vindelici,  he  deserved  to  enter  the  city  in  a  tri- 
umphal car  ?  And  when,  after  his  adoption,  he  exhausted  the 


516  VELLEITTS   PATERCULUS.  BOOK  ir. 

strength  of  Germany  in  three  years  of  continued  war,  the 
same  honor  ought  to  have  been  offered  him,  and  accepted  by 
him.  Again,  after  the  disaster  of  the  army  of  Varus,  the  rapid 
subjugation  of  the  same  Germany  ought  to  have  furnished  a 
triumph  for  the  same  consummate  general.  But  with  respect 
to  him  you  can  hardly  determine  whether  you  should  admire 
more  his  extraordinary  exertions  amid  toil  and  danger,  or  his 
moderation  with  regard  to  honors. 

CXXII.  We  have  now  arrived  at  a  period  in  which  very 
great  apprehension  prevailed.  For  Augustus  Caesar,  having 
sent  his  grandson  Germanicus  to  finish  the  remainder  of  tho 
war  in  Germany,  and  intending  to  send  his  son  Tiberius  into 
Illyricum,  to  settle  in  peace  what  he  had  subdued  in  war,  pro- 
ceeded with  the  latter  into  Campania,  with  the  design  of  escort- 
ing him,  and  at  the  same  time  to  be  present  at  the  exhibition 
of  athletic  sports,  which  the  Neapolitans  had  resolved  to  give 
in  honor  of  him.  Although  he  had  before  this  felt  symptoms 
of  debility  and  declining  health,  yet,  as  the  vigor  of  his  mind 
withstood  them,  he  accompanied  his  son,  and,  parting  from  him 
at  Beneventum,  proceeded  to  Nola;  where,  finding  that  his 
health  grew  worse  every  day,  and  well  knowing  whose  presence 
was  requisite  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  wish  to  leave  all 
things  in  safety  after  him,  he  hastily  recalled  his  son,  who  hur- 
ried back  to  the  father  of  his  country,  and  arrived  earlier  than 
was  expected.  Augustus  then  declared  that  his  mind  was  at 
ease ;  and  being  folded  in  the  embrace  of  Tiberius,  to  whom  ho 
recommended  the  accomplishment  of  his  father's  views  and  his 
own,  he  resigned  himself  to  die  whenever  the  fates  should  or- 
dain. He  was  in  some  degree  revived  by  the  sight  and  conver- 
sation of  the  person  most  dear  to  him ;  but  the  destinies  soon 
overpowering  every  effort  for  his  recovery,  and  his  body  resolv- 
ing itself  into  its  first  principles,  he  restored  to  heaven  his 
celestial  spirit,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age,  and  in  tho 
consulate  of  Pompey  and  Apuleius. 

CXXIV.  The  universal  apprehensions  excited  by  this  event ; 
the  alarm  of  the  senate,  the  consternation  of  the  people,  the 
fears  of  the  world,  and  the  narrow  line  between  safety  and  de- 
struction on  which  we  stood  on  that  occasion,  I  have  neither 
leisure  to  describe  in  this  hasty  narrative,  nor  can  he,  who  has 
leisure,  describe  satisfactorily.  One  thing  I  can  join  with  the 
voice  of  the  public  in  declaring,  that  whereas  we  had  dreaded 


BOOK  ii.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  51  f 

the  total  ruin  of  the  world,  we  did  not  perceive  that  it  felt  the 
slightest  shock  ;  and  so  powerful  was  the  majesty  of  one  man, 
that  there  was  no  occasion  for  arms,  either  to  protect  the  good, 
or  restrain  the  bad.  Yet  there  was  one  struggle,  as  it  may  be 
called,  in  the  state,  between  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome 
on  one  side,  insisting  on  Caesar's  assuming  his  father's  sta- 
tion, and  himself  on  the  other,  desiring  leave  to  stand  on  a 
level  with  his  countrymen,  instead  of  acting  in  the  exalted 
character  of  a  prince.  At  length  he  was  overcome  by  reason, 
not  by  the  attractions  of  honor ;  because  he  saw  that  whatever 
he  did  not  take  under  his  care  would  be  lost.  His  case  was 
singular  in  this,  that  he  refused  the  sovereignty  almost  as  long 
as  others  fought  to  obtain  it.  After  he  had  seen  his  father  re- 
stored to  heaven,  and  had  paid  respect  to  his  body  with  human, 
and  to  his  name  wirh  Divine  honors,  the  first  act  of  his  admin- 
istration was  the  regulation  of  the  elections,  on  a  plan  left  by 
the  deified  Augustus  in  his  own  handwriting.  At  this  time, 
my  brother  and  I  had  the  honor,  as  Caesar's  candidates,9*  of 
being  elected  praetors,  in  the  places  next  to  men  of  the  highest 
rank,  and  the  priests ;  and  we  were  remarkable  in  being  the 
last  recommended  by  Augustus,  and  the  first  by  Tiberius 
Caesar. 

CXXV.  The  Commonwealth  quickly  reaped  the  fruit  of  its 
determination  and  its  wish  ;  and  we  soon  learned  what  we  must 
have  suffered  if  that  wish  had  not  been  complied  with,  and  how 
greatly  we  had  gained  by  its  being  fulfilled.  For  the  army 
which  was  serving  in  Germany  under  the  command  of  German- 
icus,  and  the  legions  which  were  in  Ulyricum,  being  both  seized 
at  the  same  time  with  a  kind  of  outrageous  fury,  and  a  violent 
passion  for  spreading  universal  disorder,  demanded  a  new 
leader,  a  new  constitution,  a  new  republic  ;  they  even  had  the 
confidence  to  threaten  that  they  would  give  laws  to  the  senate, 
and  to  the  prince  ;  and  they  attempted  to  fix  the  amount  of 
their  pay,  and  the  period  of  their  service.  They  proceeded 
even  to  use  their  arms ;  the  sword  was  drawn  ;  and  the  impu- 
nity which  was  allowed  them  broke  forth  almost  into  the  ex- 
tremity of  violence.  They  wanted,  indeed,  a  head,  to  lead  them 
against  their  country,  but  there  were  numbers  ready  to  follow. 

M  CXXIV.  Caesar's  candidates]  Candidates  Caesaris.  That  is,  brought 
forward  and  recommended  by  Caesar.  See  Suet.  Aug.,  c.  56 ;  Quintilian, 
vi.  3. 


518  VELLEIUS   PATERCTJLUS.  HOOK  it 

However,  Lie  mature  wisdom  of  the  veteran  emperor,  who,  re- 
fusing most  of  their  demands,  promised  some  indulgences  with- 
out lowering  his  dignity,  soon  allayed  and  suppressed  all  these 
outrageous  proceedings ;  severe  vengeance  being  inflicted  on 
the  authors  of  the  mutiny,  and  milder  punishment  on  the  rest. 
On  this  occasion,  as  Germanicus  exerted  his  usual  activity,  so 
Drusus,  who  was  sent  by  his  father  expressly  to  extinguish 
the  flame  of  this  military  tumult,  blazing,  as  it  was,  with  enor- 
mous fury,  enforced  the  ancient  and  primitive  discipline,  and 
by  strong  measures,  though  not  without  danger  lo  himself,87 
put  a  stop  to  those  excesses,  so  pernicious  both  in  the  act  and  in 
the  example ;  and  reduced  to  obedience  the  soldiers  that 
pressed  around  him,  by  the  aid  of  the  very  swords  with  which 
he  was  beset.  In  these  efforts  he  found  an  excellent  assistant 
in  Junius  Blaesus,  a  man  of  whom  it  is  difficult  to  decide 
whether  his  services  were  greater  in  the  camp  or  in  the  city. 
A  few  years  after,  being  proconsul  in  Africa,  he  gained  tri- 
umphal decorations,  and  the  title  of  imperator.  And  being  in- 
trusted with  the  presidency  of  Spain,  and  the  command  of  the 
army  there,  he  was  able,  by  his  excellent  abilities,  and  with  the 
reputation  which  he  had  gained  in  the  war  in  Illyricum,  to 
keep  the  province  in  perfect  peace  and  tranquillity ;  for  while 
his  fidelity  to  the  emperor  led  him  to  adopt  the  most  salutary 
measures,  he  had  likewise  ample  authority  to  carry  into  execu- 
tion what  he  had  planned.  His  care  and  fidelity  were  closely 
copied  by  Dolabella,  a  man  of  the  noblest  simplicity  of  charac- 
ter, when  he  commanded  on  the  coast  of  Illyricum. 

CXXVI.  Of  the  transactions  of  the  last  sixteen  years,  which 
have  passed  in  view,  and  are  fresh  in  the  memory  of  all,  who  shall 
presume  to  give  a  full  account  ?  Caesar  deified  his  parent,  not 
by  arbitrary  authority,  but  by  paying  religious  respect  to  his 
character.  He  did  not  call  him  a  divinity,  but  made  him  one. 
In  that  time,  credit  has  been  restored  to  mercantile  affairs, 
sedition  has  been  banished  from  the  forum,  corruption  from  the 
Campus  Martius,  and  discord  from  the  senate-house ;  justice, 
equity,  and  industry,  which  had  long  lain  buried  in  neglect,  have 
been  revived  in  the  state ;  authority  has  been  given  to  the 
magistrates,  majesty  to  the  senate,  and  solemnity  to  the  courts 
of  justice  ;  the  dissensions  in  the  theater08  have  been  suppressed, 

87  CXXV.  Not  without  danger  to  himself]  Ancipitia  Mi.    These  words 
are  in  some  way  corrupt;  and  the  sentence  is  otherwise  defective. 
1)8  CXXVI.  Dissensions  in  the  theater]  These  were  not  of  so  small  inj- 


BOOK  ii,  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  519 

and  all  men  have  had  either  a  desire;  excited  in  them,  or  a  ne- 
cessity imposed  on  them,  of  acting  with  integrity.  Virtuous 
acts  are  honored,  wicked  deeds  are  punished.  The  humble  re- 
spects the  powerful  without  dreading  him ;  the  powerful  takes 
precedence  of  the  humble  without  contemning  him.  When 
were  provisions  mo^e  moderate  in  price  ?  When  were  the  bless- 
ings of  peace  more  abundant  ?  Augustan  peace,  diffused  over 
all  the  regions  of  the  east  and  the  west,  and  all  that  lies  be- 
tween the  south  and  north,  preserves  every  corner  of  the  world 
free  from  all  dread  of  predatory  molestation.  Fortuitous  loss- 
es, not  only  of  individuals,  but  of  cities,  the  munificence  of  the 
prince  is  ready  to  relieve.  The  cities  of  Asia  have  been  re- 
paired ;  the  provinces  have  been  secured  from  the  oppression 
of  their  governors.  Honor  promptly  rewards  the  deserving, 
and  the  punishment  of  the  guilty,  if  slow,  is  certain."  Interest 
gives  place  to  justice,  solicitation  to  merit.  For  the  best  of 
princes  teaches  his  countrymen  to  act  rightly  by  his  own  prac- 
tice ;  and  while  he  is  the  greatest  in  power,  is  still  greater  in 
example. 

CXXVII.  It  is  seldom  that  men  who  have  arrived  at  em- 
inence, have  not  had  powerful  coadjutors  in  steering  the  course 
of  their  fortunes  ;  thus  the  two  Scipios  had  the  two  Laelii,  whom 
they  set  in  every  respect  on  a  level  with  themselves ;  thus  the 
emperor  Augustus  had  Marcus  Agrippa,  and  after  him  Statilius 
Taurus.  The  newness  of  these  men's  families  proved  no  ob- 
struction to  their  attainment  of  many  consulships  and  triumphs, 
and  of  sacerdotal  offices  in  great  number.  For  great  affairs 
demand  great  co-operators ;  (in  small  matters,1  the  smallness 
of  assistance  does  not  mar  the  proceedings  ;)  and  it  is  for  the 
interest  of  the  public,  that  what  is  necessary  for  business  should 
be  eminent  in  dignity,  and  that  usefulness  should  be  fortified 
Avith  influence.  In  conformity  with  these  examples,  Tiberius 
Caesar  has  had,  and  still  has,  jElius  Sejanus,  a  most  excellent 
coadjutor  in  all  the  toils  of  government,  a  man  whose  father 
was  chief  of  the  equestrian  order,  and  who  on  his  mother's  side 
is  connected  with  some  of  the  most  illustrious  and  ancient 

portance  as  might  be  supposed,  being  sometimes  attended  with  great  blood- 
shed. See  Suet.  Tib.,  c.  57 ;  Tacit.  Ann.,  i.  77. 

*»  If  slow,  is  certain]  Sera,  sed  aliqva.  Lipsius  would  read  sed  aqua,  but 
Gruter  and  others  think  that  aliqua  may  be  right ;  i.  e.  some  punishment  is 
sure  to  follow. 

1  CXXVII.  In  small  matters,  etc.]  "  If  the  words  be  Velleius's,  the  ob- 
servation is  trifling,  and  utterly  unworthy  of  him."  Krauze. 


520  VELLEIUS   PATERCULUS  BOOK  n. 

families,  ennobled  by  high  preferments ;  who  has  brothers, 
cousins,  and  an  uncle,  of  consular  rank  ;  who  is  remarkable  for 
fidelity  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  for  ability  to  endure 
fatigue,  the  constitution  of  his  body  corresponding  with  the 
vigor  of  his  mind  ;  a  man  of  pleasing  gravity,  and  of  unaffected 
cheerfulness  ;  appearing,  in  the  dispatch  of  business,  like  a  man 
quite  at  ease  ;  assuming  nothing  to  himself,  and  hence  receiving 
every  honor ;  always  deeming  himself  inferior  to  other  men's 
estimation  of  him  ;  calm  in  looks  and  conversation,  but  in  mind 
indefatigably  vigilant. 

CXXVIII.  In  esteem  for  Sej  anus's  virtues,  the  judgment  of 
the  public  has  long  vied  with  that  of  the  prince.  Nor  is  it  at 
all  new  with  the  senate  and  people  of  Rome,  to  consider  the 
most  meritorious  as  the  most  noble.  The  men  of  old,  before 
the  first  Punic  war,  three  hundred  years  ago,  exalted  to  the 
summit  of  dignity  Titus  Coruncanius,  a  man  of  no  family,  be- 
stowing on  him,  beside  other  honors,  the  office  of  chief  pontiff ; 
they  promoted  Spurius  Carvilius,  a  man  of  equestrian  birth, 
and  afterward  Marcus  Cato,  another  new  man  (not  a  native 
citizen,  but  born  at  Tusculum),  as  well  as  Muuimius  Achaicus, 
to  consulships,  censorships,  and  triumphs.  And  they  who 
considered  Caius  Marius,  a  man  of  the  most  obscure  origin, 
as  unquestionably  the  first  in  the  Roman  nation,  before  his 
sixth  consulship;  who  had  so  high  an  esteem  for  Marcus  Tul- 
lius,  that  he  could  obtain,  almost  by  his  sole  recommendation, 
the  highest  offices  for  whomsoever  he  chose  ;  and  who  refused 
nothing  to  Asinius  Pollio,  which  men  of  the  noblest  birth  had 
to  obtain  with  infinite  labor,  were  certainly  of  opinion  that  he 
who  possessed  the  greatest  virtues,  was  entitled  to  the  greatest 
honors.  The  natural  imitation  of  other  men's  examples  led 
Caesar  to  make  trial  of  Sejanus,  and  occasioned  Sejanus  to  bear 
a  share  of  the  burdens  of  the  prince  ;  and  induced  the  senate 
and  people  of  Rome  cheerfully  to  call  to  the  guardianship  of 
their  safety  him  whom  they  saw  best  qualified  for  the  charge. 

CXXIX.  Having  exhibited  a  general  view  of  the  administra- 
tion of  Tiberius  Caesar,  let  us  now  enumerate  a  few  particulars 
respecting  it.  With  what  wisdom  did  he  bring  to  Rome  Rhas- 
cuporis,  the  murderer  of  Cotys,  his  own  brother's  son,  and  part- 
ner in  the  kingdom,  employing  in  that  affair  the  services  of 
Pomponius  Flaccus,  a  man  of  consular  rank,  naturally  inclined 
to  all  that  is  honorable,  and  by  pure  virtue  always  meriting 


BOOK  n.  COMPENDIUM  OF  ROMAN  HISTORY.  52<t 

fame,  but  never  eagerly  pursuing  it !  With  what  solemnity  as 
a  senator  and  a  judge,  not  as  a  prince,  does  he  *  *  *  hear* 
causes  in  person  !  How  speedily  did  he  crush  *  *  *  *  3  when 
he  became  ungrateful,  and  attempted  innovations  !  With  what 
precepts  did  he  form  the  mind  of  his  Germanicus,  and  train 
him  in  the  rudiments  of  war  in  his  own  camp,  so  that  he  after- 
ward hailed  him  the  conqueror  of  Germany !  What  honors 
did  he  heap  on  him  in  his  youth,  the  magnificence  of  his  tri- 
umph corresponding  to  the  grandeur  of  his  exploits !  How 
often  has  he  honored  the  people  with  donations  !  How  readily 
has  he,  when  he  could  do  it  with  the  sanction  of  the  senate, 
supplied  senators  with  property  suitable  to  their  rank,  neither 
encouraging  extravagance,  nor  suffering  honorable  poverty  to 
be  stripped  of  dignity !  In  what  an  honorable  style  did  he 
send  his  Germanicus  to  the  transmarine  provinces !  With 
what  energy,  employing  Drusus  as  a  minister  and  coadjutor  in 
his  plans,  did  lie  force  Maroboduus,  who  was  clinging  to  the 
soil  of  the  kingdom  which  he  had  possessed,  to  come  forth, 
like  a  serpent  concealed  in  the  earth  (let  me  speak  without 
offense  to  his  majesty),  by  the  salutary  charms  of  his  counsels ! 
How  honorably,  yet  how  far  from  negligently,  does  he  keep 
watch  over  him  !  How  formidable  a  war,  excited  by  the 
Gallic  chief  Sacrovir  and  Julius  Florus,  did  he  suppress,  and 
with  such  amazing  expedition  and  energy,  that  the  Roman 
people  learned  that  they  were  conquerors,  before  they  knew 
that  they  were  at  war,  and  the  news  of  victory  outstripped  the 
news  of  the  danger !  The  African  war,  too,  perilous  as  it  was, 
and  daily  increasing  in  strength,  was  quickly  terminated  under 
his  auspices  and  direction. 

CXXX.  What  structures  has  he  erected  in  his  own  name, 
and  those  of  his  family  !  With  what  dutiful  munificence,  even 
exceeding  belief,  is  he  building  a  temple  to  his  father !  With 
how  laudable  a  generosity  of  disposition  is  he  repairing  even 
the  buildings  of  Cnseus  Pompey,  that  were  consumed  by  fire  ! 
Whatever  has  been  at  any  time  conspicuously  great,  he  regards 
as  his  own,  and  under  his  protection.  With  what  liberality 
has  he  at  all  times,  and  particularly  at  the  recent  fire  on  the 

a  CXXIX.  Does  he  *  *  *  hear]  Pressing  audit.  The  word  pressius,  which 
can  hardly  be  sound,  though  Perizouius  tries  to  defend  it,  I  have  not  at- 
tempted to  translate. 

3  Did  he  crush  *  *  *]  "Whose  name  should  fill  thia  blank  is  doubtful. 
Krause  thinks  that  of  Archelaua,  king  of  Cappadocia. 


522  VELLEIUS  PATERCULUS.  BOOK  it 

Cselian  Mount,  repaired  the  losses  of  people  of  all  conditions 
out  of  his  own  property  !  With  what  perfect  ease  to  the  pub- 
lic does  he  manage  the  raising  of  troops,  a  business  of  constant 
and  extreme  apprehension,  without  the  consternation  attendant 
on  a  levy  !  If  either  nature  allows  us,  or  the  humility  of  man 
may  take  upon  itself,  to  make  a  modest  complaint  of  such 
things  to  the  gods,  what  has  lie  deserved  that,  in  the  first 
place,  Drusus  Libo  should  form  his  execrable  plots ;  and,  in 
the  next,  that  Silius  and  Piso  should  follow  his  example,  one 
of  whoxn  he  raised  to  dignity,  the  other  he  promoted  ?  That  I 
may  pass  to  greater  matters  (though  he  accounted  even  these 
very  great),  what  has  he  deserved,  that  he  should  Icse  his  sons 
in  their  youth,  or  his  grandson  by  Drusus  ?  But  we  have 
only  spoken  of  causes  for  sorrow,  we  must  now  come  to  occa- 
sions of  shame.  With  what  violent  griefs,  Marcus  Vinicius, 
has  he  felt  his  mind  tortured  in  the  last  three  years !  How 
long  has  his  heart  been  consumed  with  affliction,  and  what  is 
most  unhappy,  such  as  he  was  obliged  to  conceal,  while  he  was 
compelled  to  grieve,  and  to  feel  indignation  and  shame,  at  the 
conduct  of  his  daughter-in-law,4  and  his  grandson.6  And  the 
sorrows  of  this  period  have  been  aggravated  by  the  loss  of  his 
most  excellent  mother,  a  woman  who  resembled  the  gods  more 
than  human  beings ;  and  whose  power  no  man  ever  felt  but 
in  the  relief  of  distress  or  the  conferring  of  honor. 

CXXXI.  Let  our  book  be  concluded  with  a  prayer.  O  Ju- 
piter Capitolinus  !  O  Jupiter  Stator !  O  Mars  Gradivus,  author 
of  the  Roman  name  !  0  Vesta,  guardian  of  the  eternal  fire  ! 
0  all  ye  deities  who  have  exalted  the  present  magnitude  of 
the  Roman  empire  to  a  position  of  supremacy  over  the  world, 
guard,  preserve,  and  protect,  I  entreat  and  conjure  you,  in  the 
name  of  the  Commonwealth,  our  present  state,  our  present 
peace,  [our  present  prince  !]"  And  when  he  shall  have  com- 
pleted a  long  course  on  earth,  grant  him  successors  to  the  re- 
motest ages,  and  such  as  shall  have  abilities  to  support  the 
empire  of  the  world  as  powerfully  as  we  have  seen  him  sup- 
port it !  All  the  just  designs  of  our  countrymen  *  *  * 

4  CXXX.  Daughter-in-law]  Agrippirm,  the  wife  of  Germanicus. 

6  Grandson]  Nero,  the  son  of  Germanicus.  Velleius  merely  echoes  the 
calumnies  of  Tiberius  on  both  these  characters. 

8  CXXXI.  [Our  present  prince  !]  The  words  Tiunc grincipem,  which  the 
text  requires,  are  supplied  from  a  conjecture  of  Lipsms.  The  conclusion 
of  the  prayer  is  imperfect. 


INDEX. 


ABBREVIATIONS. — C.,  Conspiracy  of  Catiline'  J.,  Jugurthine  War;  Fr., 
Fragments  of  Sallust's  History;  Ep.  i.,  ii.,  Pseudo-Sallust's  Epistles  to 
Csesar;  FL,  Floras;  V.,  Velleius  Paterculus. 


ABORIGINES  of  Italy,  C.,  6. 

Acerrans  made  Roman  citizens,  V.,  i. 
14. 

Achaean  war,  FL,  ii.  1C. 

Achoeans  driven  out  of  Laconia,  V.,  i. 
3.  Defeated  by  Metellus,  V.,  i.  11. 
Subdued  by  Mummius,  V.,  ii.  38. 

Achaia,  Greece  so  called  by  the  Ko- 
mans,  Fl.,  ii.  7.  Joins  Antiochus, 
FL,  ii.  8. 

Acilius  Glabrio,  FL,  ii.  8. 

Actium,  battle  of,  FL,  iv.  11 ;  V.,  ii. 
84. 

Adherbal,  son  of  Micipsa,  J.,  5.  At- 
tacked by  Jugurtha,  and  flees  to 
Eome,  J.,  13.  His  speech  to  the 
senate,  J.,  14.  Is  assigned  the  less 
valuable  half  of  Numidia,  J.,  16. 
Is  attacked  by  Jugurtha ;  his  pusil- 
lanimity, J.,  £0.  Is  defeated,  and 
flees  to  Cirtii,  J.,  21.  His  letter  to 
the  senate,  J.,  24.  Surrenders  to 
Jugurtha,  who  puts  him  to  death, 
J.,  26.  See  FL,  iii.  1. 

Adrumetum,  J.,  19. 

jEetes.  FL,  iii.  5. 

^Egisthus,  V.,  i.  1. 

JSmilius.     See  Paulus. 

yEneas,  C.,  6 ;  FL,  1. 

yEolians,  V.,  i.  4. 

JSqui  and  Volsci,  FL,  i.  11. 

^Eschylus,  V.,  i.  16. 

^Etolian  war,  FL,  ii.  9 ;  V.,  iL  38. 

At'ranius  and  Petreius  in  Spain,  FL, 
iv.  2.  Afranius's  death,  ib. 

Afranins,  comic  writer,  V.,  i.  17. 

Africa,  description  of  it,  J.,  17.  Made 
a  province,  V.,  ii.  38. 

African  war  against  Caesar,  V.,  ii.  54. 


Agamemnon,  V.,  i.  1. 

Agrippa,  Octavius's  admiral,  V.,  ii. 
89.  Marries  Julia,  V.,  ii.  93.  Dies, 
V.,  ii.  96. 

Agrippa,  his  son,  adopted  by  Augus- 
tus, V.,  ii.  104,  112. 

Alba,  built  by  Ascanius,  FL,  i.  1. 
War  of  the  Albans  and  Romans, 
FL,  i.  3.  Their  faithlessness,  FL, 
i.  3.  The  city  demolished,  ib.  See 
V.,  i.  14. 

Albania  reduced,  V.,  ii.  40. 

Albinus,  Lucius,  FL,  i.  13. 

Albinus,  Spurius,  consul,  his  eager- 
ness for  war,  J.,  35.  Has  the  prov- 
ince of  Numidia,  J.,  35.  Goes  to 
war  with  Jugurtha,  J.,  36.  His 
activity  and  subsequent  tardiness, 
ib.  Quits  Numidia  to  hold  the 
comitia  at  Rome,  ib.  Returns  to 
the  army  after  the  defeat  of  his 
brother,  J.,  39. 

Alcmason,  archon  at  Athens,  V.,  i.  8. 

Alesia,  FL,  iii.  10 ;  V.,  ii.  17. 

Aletes  builds  Corinth,  V.,  i.  3. 

Alexander  the  Great,  V.,  i.  6.  Com- 
pared with  Csesar,  V.,  ii.  41. 

Alexandria  built,  V.,  i.  14. 

Allia,  river,  FL,  i.  13. 

Allies  of  Rome,  war  with,  FL,  iii.  18. 

Allobroges,  deputies  from,  C.,  40. 
State  of  their  country,  ib.  Their 
hesitation  and  resolution,  C.,  41. 
Procure  a  written  oath  from  certain 
of  the  conspirators,  C.,  44.  Are 
arrested  at  the  Milvian  Bridge,  C., 
45.  Receive  rewards  for  their  in- 
formation from  the  senate,  C.,  50. 
See  FL,  iv.  1.  War  of  the  Roman* 


524 


INDEX. 


with  the  Allobroges,  Fl.,  iii.  2. 
See  V.,  ii.  10. 

Altars  of  the  Philomi,  J.,  19. 

Ambiorix,  Fl.,  iii.  10. 

Amulius,  FL,  i.  1. 

Amyntas,  king,  joins  Augustus,  V., 
ii.  84. 

Ancus  Marcius,  his  reign,  Fl.,  i. 
4.8. 

Annius,  Caius,  governor  of  Leptis, 
J.,  77. 

Annius,  Lucius,  tribune,  J.,  37. 

Annius,  Quintus,  C.,  17. 

Antiochus,  Fr.,  B.  iv.  (Letter  of 
Mithridates).  War  of  the  Romans 
with  him,  Fl.,  ii.  8. 

Antiochus  Epiphanes,  V.,  i.  10. 

Autonius,  Caius,  has  a  view  to  the 
consulship,  C.,  21.  His  private 
circumstances,  id.  Sent  in  pursuit 
of  Catiline,  C.,  36.  Approaches 
Catiline's  army,  C.z  56.  iNot  pres- 
ent in  the  battle  with  Catiline,  C., 
59. 

Antony,  Lucius,  V.,  ii.  74. 

Antony.  Mark,  oft'ers  a  crown  to  Cse- 
sar,  Fl.,  iv.  2 ;  V.,  ii.  56.  A  public 
disturber,  FL,  iv.  3,  5,  6,  9.  Pro- 
scribes his  uncle,  iv.  6.  Conquered 
at  Mutina,  FL,  iv.  4.  Goes  against 
Brutus  and  CassiuSj  FL,  iv.  7.  De- 
feated by  the  Parthians,  FL,  iv.  10. 
By  Augustus,  FL,  iv.  11 ;  V.,  ii.  84. 
Kills  himself.  FL,  iv.  11 ;  V.,  ii.  87. 
See  also  V.,  ii.  60,  63,  65,  82. 

Antony,  M.,  orator,  V.,  ii.  9.  Killed 
by  Marius,  V.,  ii.  22. 

Appius  Claudius  Caecus,  his  verses, 
ED.  ii.  1. 

Appius  Claudius  the  Decemvir,  FL, 
i.  24. 

Appius  Pulcher,  FL,  ii.  10. 

Apuleius,  sedition  or,  FL,  iii.  16. 

Aquse  Sextiae,  FL,  iii.  3. 

Aquilius  poisons  springs  in  Perga- 
mus,  FL,  ii.  20. 

Aquitani,  FL,  iii.  10. 

Archelaus,  general  of  the  Pontic 
army.  Fr. ,  B.  iv.  (Letter  of  Mithri- 
dates) •  FL,  iii.  5. 

Archilochus,  poet,  V.,  i.  5. 

Archons  at  Athens,  V.,  i.  2,  8. 

Ardea,  FL,  i.  7. 

Ariobarzanes,  FL,  iii.  5  ;  iv.  2. 

Ariovistus,  FL,  iii.  10. 

Aristonicus.  son  of  Attalus,  Fr.,  B.  iv. 
(Letter  of  Mithridates). 


Aristonicus  in  Pergatnus,  FL,  ii.  20  ; 
V.  ii.  4. 

Aristophanes,  poet,  V.,  i.  16. 

Aristotle,  ib. 

Armenians,  J.,  18.  Subdued  by  Pom- 
pey,  and  under  Augustus,  FL,  iv. 
12;  V.,  ii.  94. 

Artninius  cuts  off  Varus,  V.,  ii.  118. 

Arretium,  C.,  36. 

Arsaces,  letter  of  Mithridates  to,  Fr., 
B.  iv. 

Artabuzes,  FL,  iii.  5. 

Artavasdes,  king  of  Armenia,  V.,  ii. 
82. 

Aruns,  FL,  i.  10. 

Arverni,  FL,  iii.  10. 

Asia,  by  some  included  in  Europe, 
J.,  17.  A  Eomau  province,  V.,  ii. 
4,  38,  126. 

Asinius  Pollio,  FL,  iv.  12 ;  V.,  ii.  36. 
73,  76,  86. 

Aspar,  an  instrument  of  Jugurtha, 
J.,  108,  112. 

Assyrians,  universal  empire  of,  V., 
i.  6. 

Asturians  subdued,  FL,  iv.  12. 

Athenians,  C.,  2.  Their  exploits  not 
so  great  as  they  are  represented, 
C.,  8.  Conquered  by  the  Lacedoj- 
monians,  C.,  51. 

Athenio,  leader  of  the  slaves  in  Sicily, 
FL,  iii.  19. 

Athens  occupied  by  Mithridates,  FL, 
iii.  5.  Reduced  by  Sylla,  ib.  Ar- 
chons of,  V.,  i.  2.  Colonies,  V.,  i. 
4.  Genius,  V.,  i.  17.  Faithful  to 
Korne,  V.,  ii.  23.  Famous  dccreo 
at,  V.,  ii.  58. 

Atreus,  V.,  i.  7. 

Attalus,  king  of  Pergamus.  his  will, 
Fr. ,  B.  i  v.  (Letter  of  Mithridates ) ; 
FL,  ii.  20j  V.,  ii.  4. 

Attius  Noevius,  the  augur,  FL,  i.  5. 

Attius,  writer  of  tragedy,  V.,  i.  17  ; 
ii.  9. 

Augustus  Caasar,  adopted  by  Julius 
Csesar,  V.,  ii.  59.  Resolves  to 
avenge  the  death  of  Caesar,  FL,  iv. 
3.  Regulates  the  affairs  of  the  em- 
pire, ib.  Defeats  Antony  at  Mu- 
tina, FL,  iv.  4.  At  Pernsia,  FL, 
iv.  5  ;  V.,  ii.  76.  At  Aetium,  FL, 
iv.  11 ;  V.,  ii.  85.  Subdues  the 
Cantabrians,  FL,  iv.  12.  Goes 
against  Cassius  and  Brutus,  Fl.,  iv. 
7 :  V.,  ii.  70.  Contemns  a  triumph, 
FL,  iv.  12.  Shuts  the  temple  of 


INDEX. 


525 


Janns,  ib.  His  wara  with  foreign 
nations,  ib.  See  V.,  ii.  60,  61,  65, 
77,  79,  80,  89, 100.  Adopts  Caius 
and  Lucius,  V.,  ii.  96.  Adopts  Ti- 
berius and  Agrippa,  V.,  ii.  103. 

Aulus,  brother  ot  Albinus,  left  in 
command  by  him,  J.,  38,  37.  Fool- 
ishly attacks  Suthul,  J.,  37.  De- 
luded and  overcome  by  Jugurtha, 
J.,  38.  His  troops  obliged  to  pass 
under  the  yoke,  tb. 

Aurelia  Orestilla,  C.,  15,  35. 

Autronius,  Publius,  C.,  17,  18. 

^.varicum,  Fl.,  iii.  10. 

Aventine  Mount,  secessions  to,  J.,  31. 

Babylon,  V.,  i.  6. 

Biebius,  C:iius.  a  tribune  of  the  peo- 
ple, bribed  by  Jugurtha,  J.,  33.  His 
audacity,  J.,  84. 

Balearic  isles  subdued,  Fl.,  iii.  8. 

BathinUBj  river,  V.,  ii.  14. 

Belgffi,  Fl.,  iii.  10. 

BelOeuus,  praetor  at  Utica,  J.,  104. 

Bestia,  Lucius,  C.,  17.  Appointed  to 
make  a  charge  against  Cicero,  C., 
43. 

Bestia,  Lucius  Calpuruius,  consul,  J., 
72.  Able,  but  avaricious,  J.,  28. 
Has  the  conduct  of  the  war  agaipst 
Jugurtha,  J.,  28.  Bribed  by  him, 
J.,  29.  Escapes  condemnation,  J., 
34.  See  FL,  iii.  1. 

Bibulus,  Ep.  i.  9 ;  V.,  ii.  44. 

Bithyuia,  bequeathed  to  the  Romans, 
V.*,  ii.  4.  Recovered  from  Nico- 
medes,  Fl.,  iii.  5. 

Bituitus,  a  Gallic  king,  Fl.,  iii.  1. 

Bocchus,  kiug  of  Mauretania,  J.,  19. 
Father-in-law  of  Jugurtha,  J.,  80. 
Joins  him,  ib.  His  instability,  J., 
97.  Treats  secretly  with  Marius, 
J.,  102.  His  irresolution,  ib.  Sends 
embassadors  to  Marius  and  to 
Koine,  J.,  103.  Reply  that  he  re- 
ceives from  the  senate,  J.,  104. 
His  duplicity,  J.,  108,  109.  His 
address  to  Sylla,  J.,  110.  Deter- 
mines to  betray  J  ugurtha,  J.,  112. 
See  Fl.,  iii.  1. 

Boiohemum,  V.,  ii.  109. 

Bojorix,  Fl.,  iii.  3. 

Bomilcar,  an  adherent  of  Juerurtha, 
procures  the  death  of  Massiva,  J., 
fi'i.  Escapes  by  Jngurtlia's  means, 
Hi.  Commands  in  Jii^nrtlui's  army, 
J.,  4'J,  52.  Wrought  upon  by  Me- 


j  J.,  61.    Induces  Jugurtha 

to  think  of  surrendering,  J.,  62. 

Plots  against  Jugurtha's  life,  J., 

70.    Discovered,  and  put  to  death, 

J.,  71,  72. 
Britain  invaded  by  Caesar,  Fl.,  iii.  10 ; 

V.,  ii.  47. 

Britomarus,  Fl.,  ii.  4. 
Bructerians  subdued,  V.,  ii.  105. 
Brundusium,  V.,  i.  14;  ii.  24,  76. 
Brutus  and  Collatinus,  Fl.,  i.  9.   B:ii- 

tus  puts  his  sons  to  death,  Fl.,  i.  P. 

His  death,  Fl.,  i.  10. 
Brutus,  Ep.,  ii.  4. 
Brutus,  Decimus,  C.,  40. 


Conspirator  against 

Caesar,  V.,  ii.  56.  Killed,  64. 

Brutus,  Marcius  Jnnius,  kills  Caesar, 
FL,  iv.  2. ;  V.,  ii.  56.  His  war  with 
Octavins  and  Antony,  FL,  iv.  7  ; 
V.,  ii.  70.  His  death,  ib.  Compared 
with  Cassius,  V.,  ii.  72. 

Byzantium,  V.,  ii.  15. 

Caecilian  family,  remarkable,  V.,  ii. 

11. 
Caecilius,  writer    of   comedy,  V.,   i. 

17. 

Ccelius,  his  sedition,  V.,  ii.  68. 
Caeninenses,  FL,  i.  1. 
Caepio,  Quintus,  J.,  114. 
Caepio,  Servilius,  FL,  iii.  17 ;  V.,  ii. 

10,  12. 

Caesar,  Augustus.    See  Augustus.  • 
Caesar,  Caius  Strabo,  orator,  V.,  ii.  9. 
Caesar,  Julius,  greatly  in  debt,  C.,  49. 
Odium  excited  against  him  by  Ca- 
tulus  and  Piso,  ib.    His  speech  to 
the  senate  concerning  the  conspir- 
ators, C.,  51.    His  character,  con- 
trasted with  that  of  Cato,  C.,  54. 
His  wars  in  Gaul,  FL,  iii.  10. ;  V.. 

11.  43-48.  Invades  Britain,  ib.  Civil 
war  with  Pompey,  FL,  iv.  2.     His 
war  in  Egypt,  w.  "With  Pharuaces, 
ib.    His  triumphs,  ib.     His  d_ictat- 
orship  and  death,  ib.  SeeV.,  ii.  41, 
49,  52,  55,  56,  59. 

Caesar,  Lucius,  C.,  17. 

Caesar,  Tiberius.    See  Tiberius. 

Caesars,  Caius  and  Lucius,  grandsons 
of  Augustus,  FL,  iv.  12;  V.,  ii.  96, 
Their  deaths,  ib.  ;  V.,  101,  102. 

Calpnrnia  kills  herself,  V.,  ii.  26. 

Calpurnia,  wife  of  Cwsar,  V..  ii.  57 
:  Calpurnius  Flamma,  FL,  ii.  2. 

Camillas,  FL,  i.  13,  22. 


526 


INDEX. 


Campania  described,  Fl.,  i.  16.  Cam- 

panians  made  citizens,  V.,   i.   14. 

See  V.j  ii.  81. 

Cannse,  battle  of,  Fl.,  ii.  6. 
Cantabrians   subdued  by  Augustus, 

Fl.,  iv.  12. 

Caprea,  lake  of,  Fl.,  i.  1. 
Capsa,  besieged  by  Marius,  J.,  89. 

Taken,  J.,  91 ;  Fl    iii.  1. 
Caralis  ia  Sardinia,  Fl.,  ii.  6. 
Carbo,  Ep.,  ii.  4. 
Carbo,  consul,  V.,  ii.  12,  24. 
Came,  FL,  i.  11 ;  iii.  11. 
Carthage   destroyed,  Fl.,  ii.  15 ;  V., 

ii.  12.     First  colony  out  of  Italy, 

V.,   i.   15.      More    powerful  than 

Tyre,  V.,  ii.  15.    When    founded, 

V..  i.  6. 
Carthaginians,  how  treated  by  the 

Romans,  C.,  51.   Carthaginians  and 

Cyreuians,  J.,  79. 
Cassius,  Lucius  C.  Longinus,  C.,  17. 

Sets  out  for  Gaul,  C.,  44. 
Cassius,  Lucius,  praetor,  dispatched 

to  brin^  Jugurtna  to  Rome,  J.,  32. 
Cassius  kills  Csesar,  FL,  iv.  2  ;  V.,  ii. 

56.  His  war  with   Octavius  and 
Antony,  and  death,  FL,  iv.  7  :  V., 
ii.  70.    His  war  in  Parthia,  V.,  ii. 
46. 

Castor  and  Pollux,  FL,  i.  11. ;  ii.  12. 

Catabathmos,  J.,  17,  19. 

Catiline,  his  birth,  character,  and 
mode  of  life,  C.,  5.  Wishes  to  make 
himself  tyrant  of  his  country,  ib. 
His  associates,  C.,  14.  His  crimes, 
C.,  15.  Conceives  the  plan  of  the 
conspiracy,  C.,  16.  His  first  plot, 
and  its  failure,  C.,  18.  His  speech 
to  the  conspirators,  C.,  20.  Atro- 
city said  to  nave  followed  it,  C.,  22. 
Has  a  view  to  the  consulship,  C., 
26.  Lays  plots  for  Cicero,  ib.  Re- 
solves on  war,  ib.  His  exertions, 
C.,  27.  His  audacity  in  entering 
the  senate,  and  threats,  C.,  31. 
Leaves  Rome  for  the  camp,  C.,  32. 
Sends  letters  to  different  persons, 
C.,  34.  His  letter  to  Catulus,  C., 

35.  Declared  a  public  enemy,  C., 

36.  Consequences  that  would  have 
resulted  from  his  success,  C.,  39. 
Prepares  his  forces,  C.,  56.    De- 
serted by  many  of  his  followers, 
and  endeavors  "to  reach  Gaul,  C., 

57.  Resolves  on  giving;  battle  to 
Antouius ;  his  speech  to  his  troops, 


C.,  57,  58.  His  conduct  in  the 
battle,  C.,  60.  His  death,  C.,  61. 
See  FL,  iv.  1 ;  V.,  ii.  34,  36. 

Cato,  C.,  condemned  for  extortion, 
V.,  ii.  7. 

Cato,  Marcus  Porcius  (tbe  Censor), 
his  style,  Fr.,  B.  i.  Urges  the  de- 
struction of  Carthage,  FL,  ii.  15. 
See  V.,  i.  7,  13,  17. 

Cato,  Marcus  Porcius,  his  speech  to 
the  senate,  recommending  that  the 
conspirators  be  put  to  death,  C., 

52.  His   opinion  is  followed,  C.. 

53.  His  character,  as    compared 
with  that  of  Ctesar,  C.,   54.    See 
also  Ep.,  i.  9.   Sent  to  Cyprus,  FL, 
iii.  9.     His  death,  FL,  iv.  2.     See 
V.,  ii.  35,  45,  128.    His  wish  to  ac- 
quit Milo,  V.,  ii.  47. 

Catullus,  the  poet,  V.,  ii.  36. 

Catulus,  Quintus,  receives  a  letter 
from  Catiline,  C.,  35.  Could  not 
prevail  on  Cicero  to  accuse  Caesar, 
C.,  49.  Why  he  hatfld  Csesar,  ib. 

Catulus,  consul,  Fr.,  B.  iii.  (Speech 
of  Macer  Licinius). 

Catulus,  his  modesty,  V.,  ii.  32.  Dies 
before  the  civil  war,  V.,  ii.  49. 

Caudine  Forks,  FL,  i.  16. 

Cavelian  princes^  FL,  iii.  10. 

Celia,  beer,  FL,  ii.  17. 

Ceres,  her  festival,  V.,  i.  4. 

Cethegus,  Caius,  C.,  17.  Appointed 
to  attack  Cicero,  C.,  43.  His  ardor, 
ib.  Brought  before  the  senate  by 
Cicero,  and  committed  to  custody, 
C.,  46,  47.  Endeavors  to  get  him- 
self rescued,  C.,  50.  His  death, 
C.,  55.  Mentioned  in  the  speech 
of  Philippus,  Fr.,  B.  i.  See  V.,  ii. 
34. 

Chalcis,  V.,  i.  4. 

Charops,  archon,  V.,  i.  2,  8. 

Chrysocolla,  FL,  iv.  12. 

Cicero,  Marcus  Tullius,  a  new  man, 
C.,  23.  Obtains  the  consulship 
with  Antonius,  C..  24.  His  pre- 
cautions against  Catiline,  C.,  26. ; 
V.,  ii.  34.  Brings  the  affair  of  tho 
conspiracy  before  the  senate,  C., 
29.  Delivers  his  powerful  speech 
against  Catiline,  C.,  31.  Appointed 
by  the  senate  to  protect  the  city, 
C.,  36.  Arrests  the  Allobrogiau 
deputies,  and  obtains  proofs  of  tho 
conspirators'  guilt,  C.,  46.  Some 
of  them  arc  committed  to  custody, 


INDEX. 


527 


C.,  47.  Is  said  to  have  falsely  ac- 
cused Crassus  of  favoring  Catiline, 
C.,  48.  Eefuses  to  accuse  Csesar, 
C.,  49.  Convokes  the  senate  to 
pass  sentence  on  the  conspirators 
m  custody,  C.,  50.  Proceeds  to 
put  them  to  death,  C.,  55.  His 
banishment,  V.,  ii.  45.  His  death, 
V.,  ii.  66. 

Cilicia  subdued  by  Isauricus,  V.,  ii. 
89. 

Cilician  Pirates,  Fl.,  iii.  6. 

Cimbri,  war  with  them,  Fl.,  iii.  3  ;  V., 
ii.  8,  12,  120. 

Ciminian  Forest,  Fl.,  i.  17. 

Cineinnatus,  FL,  i.  11. 

China,  his  actions  with  Marius,  Fl., 
iii.  21 ;  V.,  ii.  20,  ?l,  24. 

Cirta,  J.,  20.  Besieged  by  Jugurtha, 
J.,  23,  25.  Surrendered  to  him, 
J.,  26.  In  possession  of  Metellus, 
J.,  81. 

Civic  franchise  demanded,  FL,  iii. 
17,  18. 

Claudius  Quadrigarius,  historian,  V., 
ii.  9. 

Cleopatra,  FL,  iv.  2.  In  love  with 
Antony,  FL,  iv.  3.  Her  death, 
FL,  iv.  11.  SeeV.,  ii.  85,  87. 

Clodins,  his  character;  he  banishes 
Cicero,  and  removes  Cato,  V.,  ii. 
45.  Killed  by  Milo,  V.,  ii.  47. 

Cloelia,  FL,  i.  10. 

Clusium,  FL,  i.  13 ;  V.,  ii.  28. 

Clypea,  city,  FL,  ii.  2. 

Codrus,  last  king  of  Athens,  V.,  i.  2. 

Ccelius,  historian,  V.,  ii.  9,  36. 

Cceparius,  one  of  the  consoirators, 
flees  from  Kome,  C.,  46.  Arrested 
in  his  flight,  and  committed  to 
frnstody,  C.,  47.  Put  to  death,  C., 
55. 

Colchians,  V.,  ii.  40. 

Colophon  built,  V.,  i.  4. 

Compsa,  V.,  i.  14  ;  ii.  16,  68. 

Connuentes,  FL,  iv.  6. 

Consuls,  FL,  i.  9. 
!  Corfinimn,  V.,  ii.  16,  50. 

Corinth  destroyed  by  Mummius,  FL, 
ii.  16 ;  V.,  i.  13.  When  built,  V., 
1,  3.  Seized  by  Agrippa,  V.,  ii.  84. 

Corinthian  brass.  FL,  ii.  16. 

Toriolanus,  FL,  i.  11,  22. 

Cornelia,  mother  of  the  Gracchi,  V., 
ii.  7. 

Cornelia,  wife  of  Pompey,  V.,  ii.  53. 

Cornelius,  Caius,  C.,  17,  28. 


Cornelius,  scriba,  Fr.,  B.  i. 

Corsa,  a  woman  who  gave  name  to 
Corsica,  Fr.,  B.  ii. 

Coruucanius,  V.,  ii.  128. 

Corvinus,  orator,  V.,  ii.  36. 

Cossus,  FL,  i.  11 ;  V.,  ii.  116. 

Cotta,  Caius,  Fr.,  B.  iii.  His  speech 
to  the  people.  (End  of  the  Frag- 
ments.) 

Cotta,  Lucius,  C.,  18. 

Cotta,  Marcus,  routed  by  Mithri- 
dates,  Fr.,  B.  iv.  (Letter  of  Mith- 
ridates). 

Cotys,  FL,  iv.  2 ;  V.,  ii.  129. 

Crassus,  Marcus  Licinius,  believed 
to  be  privy  to  the  conspiracy,  C., 
17-  His  hatred  to  Pompey,  C.,  17, 
19.  Accused  of  promoting  the 
conspiracy,  C.,  48.  His  fate  in 
Parthia,  FL,  iii.  11.  One  of  the 
triumvirate,  FL,  iv.  2.  See  V.,  ii. 
30,  44,  46. 

Crassus,  orator,  V.,  ii.  9. 

Crassus,  praetor,  killed  iu  Pergamus, 
FL,  ii.  20. 

Crastinus,  Fl.{  iv.  2. 

Cratinus,  comic  writer,  V.,  i.  16. 

Creon,  first  annual  archon,  V.,  i.  7. 

Cretans,  Fr.,  B.  iv.  (Letter  of  Mith- 
ridates).  Subdued  by  Metellus, 
FL,  iii.  7  ;  V.,  ii.  34,  38,  81. 

Cures,  town  of,  FL,  i.  2. 

Curiatii,  FL,  i.  3. 

Curicta,  FL,  iv.  2,  note. 

Curio,  FL,  iv.  2  ;  V.,  ii.  48,  55. 

CuriOj  Caius,  Fr.,  B.  iii.  (Speech  of 
Licinius). 

Curius,  Quintus,  C.,  17.  His  char 
acter,  C.,  23,  26.  Gives  private  in- 
formation to  Cicero,  C.,  28. 

Cydouia,  FL,  iii.  7. 

Cynoscephalae,  FL,  ii.  7. 

Cyprus  subdued,  FL,  iii.  9  ;  V.,  ii. 
38,  45. 

Cyrene,  a  colony  from  Thera,  J.,  19. 
Cyrenians,  J.,  79. 

Cyrus,  C.,  2,  and  note. 

Cyzicus,  siege  of,  Fr.,  B.  v.  (Letter 
of  Mithridates) ;  FL,  iii.  5 :  V..  ii. 
15,  33. 

Dabar,  an  adherent  of  Bocchus,  J., 

108,  112. 
Dacians  subdued  bv  Augustus.  FL, 

iv.  12. 
Dalmatians   subdued   by  Antrnstns, 

FL,  iv.  12.    See  V.,  II.  90,  110, 115. 


528 


INDEX. 


Damasippus,    C..    51 ;      Fr.,    B.    : 
(Speech  of  Philippus) ;  V.,  ii.  26. 
Danube,  V.,  ii.  110. 
Decemviri,  FL,  i.  24. 
Declamation,    spurious,    of    Sallust 
against  Cicero,  p.  263. 

Cioero  against  Sallust,  p.  267. 

Deiotarus,  FL,  iv.  2. 

Dellius,  his  change  of  parties,  V.,  ii. 

84. 

Delos,  i.  4. 
Deserters,  J.,  56. 
Diana  honored  by  Sylla,  V.,  ii.  25. 
Didius,  V.,  ii.  16. 
Dido  founds  Carthage,  V.,  i.  6. 
Diphilus,  writer  of  comedy,  V.,  i.  16. 
Dolabella  accused  by  Caesar,  V.,  ii. 
43.    His  furious  acts,  V.,   ii.    60. 
His  death,  V.,  ii.  69. 
Domitian  family,  good  fortune  of,  V., 

ii.  10. 
Domitius  defeats  the  Arverni,  V.,  ii. 

10. 

Domitius,  Cn.,  his  fleet,  V.,  ii.  72. 
Joins  Antony,  V.,  ii.  76.      Goes 
over  to  Caesar,  V.,  ii.  84. 
Domitius,  Cnaeus,  Ep.,  ii.  4. 
Domitius,  Lucius,  Ep.,  i.  4,  9. 
Domitius,    a  centurion,   intimidates 

the  Mysians,  Fl.,  iv.  12. 
Domnes,  FL,  iv.  12. 
Drusus,  Claudius,  step-son  of  Augus- 
tus, his  acts  in  Germany,  FL,  iv. 
12 :  V.,  ii.  95.    His  death,  FL,  iv. 
12 '  V.  ii.  97. 

Drusus,  'Marcus    Livius,  Ep.,  i.   6. 
Sedition  of,  FL,  iii.  17  ;   V.,  ii.  13, 
14. 
Duilius   defeats   the    Carthaginians, 

FL,  ii.  2. 

Dynasties,  V.,  ii.  51. 
Dyrrachium,  FL,  iv.  2  ;  V.,  ii.  24,  50, 
51. 

Egeria,  goddess,  FL,  i.  2. 
E^ius,A7.,  ii.  119. 
Egnatius,  Italian  general,  V.,  ii.  16. 
Ksrvpt,  Caesar's  war  in,  FL,  iv.  2. 
EFissa,  or  Dido,  founds  Carthage,  V., 

i.  6. 

Ephesus  founded,  V.,  i.  4. 
Ephyra  in  Thesprotia,  V.,  i.  1. 
Ephyre  or  Corinth,  V.,  i.  3. 
Epirus,  V.,  i.  3. 
Eporsedia,  V.,  i.  15. 
Erythra,  V.,  i.  4. 
Ethiopians,  J.,  19. 


Etrurians,  C.,  51.     Their  wars  with 

the  Komans,  FL,  i.  17. 
Eumenes,   Fr.,    B.    iv.    (Letter    of 

Mithridates) ;  V.,  i.  9. 
Eunus  heads  an  insurrection  in  Sicily, 

FL,  iii.  19. 

Euphrates,  V.,  ii.  46,  101. 
Eupolis,  comic  writer,  V.,  i.  16. 
Euripides.V.,  i.  16. 
Evander,  FL,  i.  1. 

Fabii,  FL,  i.  12. 

Fabius  JSmilianus,  V.,  ii.  5. 

Fabius  Ambustus,  FL,  i.  26. 

Fabius  Cunctator,  FL,  ii.  6. 

Fabius  Maximus  defeats  the  Sabines, 
FL,  i.  17. 

Fabius  Sanga,  Quintus,  C.,  41. 

Fabius  defeated  by  the  Gauls,  FL,  i. 
13. 

Fabricius,  FL,  i.  17. 

Fa38ula3,  C.,  24,  27. 

Falisci,  FL,  i.  12. 

Fannius,  orator,  V.,  i.  17 ;  ii.  9. 

Fathers,  the  senate  so  called,  C.,  6  ; 
FL,  i.  1. 

Favonius,  Marcus,  Ep.,  i.  9. 

Favonius,  V.,  ii.  53. 

Fidenac,  FL,  i.  1    12. 

Figulus,  Caius,  C.,  17. 

Fimbria,  V.,  ii.  24. 

Flacci,  two,  consuls  together,  V.,  ii.  8. 

Flamen  of  Jove,  V.,  ii.  20. 

Flaminius  Flamma,  Caius,  C.,  36. 

Floralisa,  V.,  i.  14. 

Fortune,  has  power  in  every  thing, 
C.,  8;  Ep.,  ii.  1. 

Fregella,  colony,  V.,  i.  15.  Destroyed 
by  Opimius,  V.,  ii.  6. 

Fufidiu*,  Fr.,  B.  i. 

Fulvia,  a  licentious  and  extravagant 
woman,  C.,  23,  26.  Sends  intelli- 
gence to  Cicero,  C.,  28  ;  FL,  iv.  1. 

Fulvia,  wife  of  Antony,  FL,  iv.  5 : 
V.,  ii.  74. 

Fulvius  Flaccus,  Marcus,  his  death, 
J.,  31;  V.,  ii.  6,  7. 

Fulvius,  Marcus  F.  Nobilior,  C.,  17. 

Gabii,  FL,  i.  7. 

Gabinius,  Marcus  G.  Capito,  C.,  17, 
40.  Appointed  to  fire  the  city,  C., 
43.  Accused  before  the  senate, 
and  committed  to  custody,  C.,  46, 
47.  Put  to  death,  C.,  55. 

Gades  built,  V.,  i.  3. 

Galba,  orator,  V.,  i.  17 ;  ii.  9. 


INDEX. 


529 


Galli  Insubres,  their  war  -with  the 
Romans,  Fl.,  ii.  4. 

Galli  Senonee,  their  conflicts  with 
the  Romans,  FL,  i.  13. 

Gallograecian  war,  Fl.,  i.  11 ;  V.,  ii. 
39. 

Gauda,  grandson  of  Masinissa,  J., 
65.  His  weakness  and  folly,  ib. 

Gaul,  exhausted  state  of,  Fr.,  B.  iii. 
(Letter  of  Pompev). 

Gauls,  their  valor,  J.,  114.  Caesar's 
wars  with  them,  Fl.,  iii.  10;  V., 
ii.  39. 

Gentius,  king  of  Illyria,  V.,  i.  9. 

Germans  iomed  with  the  Gauls 
against  Cassar,  FL,  iii.  10.  Re- 
duced by  Drusus,  FJ.,  iv.  12.  Kill 
Varus,  %b.  See  V.,  ii.  98,  100,  106, 
117. 

Getulians  and  Libyans,  original  in- 
habitants of  Africa,  J.,  18.  Getu- 
lians armed  by  Jugurtha,  J.,  80. 
Subdued  by  Cossus  under  Augus- 
tas, F!.,  iv.  12. 

Glaucus,  V.,  ii.  83. 

Gracchus,  Cains,  killed,  J.,  31,  42. 
Remarks  ou  hia  character  and  pro- 
ceedings, il>.  Account  of  him,  Fl.. 
iii.  15 ;  V.,  ii.  6. 

Gracchus,  Tiberius,  killed,  J.,  31,  42. 
Remarks  on  his  character  and  pro- 
ceedings, ib.  Account  of  him,  FL, 
iii.  14 ;  V.,  ii.  2,  3. 

Gradivus,  Mars,  V.,  ii.  131. 

Granicus,  V.,  i.  11. 

Greece,  scourging  adopted  from,  C., 
51. 

Greek  learning,  J.,  85. 

Greeks  emigrate  to  Asia,  V.,  i.  4. 

Gulussa,  J.,  5. 

Hamilcar  of  Leptis,  J.,  77. 
Hannibal,  J.,  5.    His  conduct  of  the 

second  Punic  war,  Fl.,  ii.  6;  V., 

u.  27. 
Hasdrubal,  brother  of  Hannibal,  Fl., 

ii.  6. 
Ilasdrubal  surrenders  at  the  siege  of 

Carthage,  FL,  ii.  15. 
Helvetii,  FL,  iii.  10. 
Herachdffi,  V.,  i.  2. 
Herculaneum,  V.,  ii.  16. 
Hercules,  J.,  18;  V..  i.  2,7. 
Hercyniau  Forest,  FL,  iii.  10 ;  V.,  ii. 

108,  109. 
Herennius,  a  Spanish  leader,  slain, 

Fr.,  B.  iii.    (Letter  of  Pompey). 


23 


Hesiod,  his  character,  .V.,  i.  7. 

Hiempsal,  son  of  Micipsa,  J.,  5.  His 
dislike  to  Jugurtha,  J-,11.  Mur- 
dered by  him,  J.,  12 ;  Fl.,  iii.  1. 

Hiempsal,  king  of  Numidia,  son  of 
Gulussa,  J.,  17.  His  Punic  vol- 
umes, ib. 

Hiero,  FL,  ii.  2. 

Hippo,  J.,  19. 

Hirtius,  consul,  his  advice  to  Julius 
Caesar,  V.,  ii.  57. 

Historian,  duty  of,  C.,  3. 

Homer,  his  character,  V.,  i.  5. 

Horatii  and  Curiatii,  FL,  j.  3. 

Horatius  Codes,  FL,  i.  10  j  V.,  ii.  6. 

Hortensius,  orator,  V.,  ii.  36.  His 
death,  V.,  ii.  49.  His  son  killed  at 
PhUippi,  V.,  ii.  70. 

Janus,  temple  of,  FL,  ii.  3 ;  iv.  12 ; 
V.,  ii.  38. 

Jerusalem  entered  by  Pompey,  FL, 
iii.  5. 

Illyrians,  Roman  wars  with  them, 
FL,  ii.  5,  13.  Subdued  by  Augus- 
tus, FL,  iv.  12  ;  V.,  ii.  39. 

Indians  send  embassadors  to  Augus- 
tus, FL,  iv.  12. 

Indutiomarus,  FL,  iii.  10. 

Ion,  V.,  i.  4. 

Iphitus  institutes  the  Olympian 
games,  V.,  i.  7. 

Isocrates,  orator,  V.,  i.  16. 

Istrian  war,  FL,  ii.  10. 

Italic  war,  V.,  ii.  15. 

Juba  overthrown  by  Caesar,  FL,  iv. 
2.  His  death,  ib.  ;  V.,  ii.  53,  54. 

Judges,  or  Jurymen,  Ep.,  i.  7. 

Jugurtha,  son  of  Ma&tanabal,  and 
nephew  of  Masinissa,  J.,  5.  His 
character  and  habits,  J.,  6.  His 
popularity  dreaded  by  Micipsa,  ib. 
Sent  with  auxiliary  troops  to  the 
Romans  at  the  siege  of  Nurnantia, 
J.,  7.  Flattered  there  by  certain 
Romans,  and  receives  friendly  ad- 
vice from  Scipio,  J.,  8.  Adopted 
by  Micipsa,  J.,  9.  Addressed  by 
Micipsa  on  his  death-bed,  J.,  10. 
His  conference  with  Adherbal  and 
Hiempsal  after-Micipsa's  death,  J., 

11.  Plots  against  Hiempsal,  J., 

12.  Murders  him,  ib.    Aspires  to 
the  sovereignty  of  all    Numidia, 
and  defeats  Adherbal,  J.,  13.    Sees 
no  hope  of  ultimate  success  but  in 
Roman  avarice,  ib.    Success  of  his 


530 


INDEX. 


bribery,  J.,  13, 15.  Ten  commis- 
sioners sent  to  divide  the  kingdom 
between  him  and  Adherbal,  J.,  16. 
Works  on  Scaurus,  and  obtains 
the  more  valuable  portion  of  Nu- 
midia,  ib.  Invades  the  territories 
of  Adherbal,  J.,  20.  Receives 
another  embassy  from  the  senate, 
J.,  22.  Disregards  it.  and  besieges 
Cirta,  J.,  22,  23.  Takes  it,  and 
puts  Adherbal  to  death,  J.,  26. 
Sends  more  deputies  to  Eome  with 
bribes,  who  are  not  admitted  into 
the  city,  J.,  28.  Bribes  the  consul 
Calpurnius  to  grant  him  peace,  J., 
29.  Is  brought  by  Cassius  to  Rome 
to  give  evidence,  J.,  32.  Bribes 
Bjebius,  one  of  the  tribunes,  J., 
33.  Procures  the  death  of  Massi- 
va,  J.,  35.  Quits  Italy,  ib.  Maneu- 
vers against  the  consul  Albinus, 
J.,  §6.  Surprises  Aulus,  and  sends 
the  Romans  under  the  yoke,  J.. 
38.  Finds  that  he  has  to  contend 
with  a  man  of  ability  in  Metellus, 
J.,  46,  48.  Resolves  to  come  to  a 
battle  with  him,  J.,  48.  Descrip- 
tion of  the  arrangements  and  con- 
test, J.,  49-52.  Is  at  last  repulsed, 
53.  Not  dispirited,  J.,  54.  His 
activity,  J.,  55.  Attacks  the  Ro- 
man camp  near  Zama,  J.,  58.  Re- 
solves on  surrendering  to  Metellus, 
J.,  62.  Changes  his  mind,  ib.  His 
renewed  activity,  J.,  66.  His  dis- 
quietude from  the  treachery  of  his 
adherents,  J.,  72,  76.  Routed  by 
Metellus,  J.,  74.  FJees  to  Thala, 
J.,  75.  Quits  it,  J.,  76.  Flees  to 
Getulia,  J.,  80.  Unites  with  Boc- 
chus,  J.,  80,  81.  Surprised  by 
Marina,  J..  88.  He  and  Bocchus 
unsuccessfully  attack  Marins,  J., 
97-99, 101.  Desirous  of  peace,  J., 

111.  Agrees  to  a  conference,  J., 

112.  Seized  by  the  treachery  of 
Boochus,  J.,  113.    See  Fl.,  iiu  1; 
V.,  ii.  9, 11,  12. 

Julia  Augusta,  daughter  of  Livius 
Drusus,  V.,  ii.  71. 

Julia,  daughter  of  Augustus,  wife  of 
Marcellus,  then  of  Agrippa,  then 
of  Tib.  Nero,  V.,  ii.  94,  96.  Her 
misconduct  and  banishment,  V.,  ii. 
100. 

Julia,  Pompey's  wife,  her  death,  Fl., 
iv.2;  V.,ii.47. 


Julius,  Caius,  C.,  27. 

Julius  Proculus,  Fl.,  i.  1. 

Junia,  sister  of  Brutus,  V.,  ii.  88. 

Junius  Blaesus,  V.,  ii.  125. 

Junius  Silanus,  Decimus,  gives  his 
opinion  for  putting  the  conspirators 
to  death,  C.,  50.  Caesar's  observa- 
tions on  it,  C.,  51. 

Jupiter  Stator,  Fl.  i.  1. 

King,  the  first  title  of  sovereignty, 
C.,2. 

Labienus,  Fl..  iv.  2 ;  V.,  ii.  40.  Falls 
at  Munda?  V.,  ii.  55. 

Labienus,  his  son,  V.,  ii.  78. 

Lacedaemonians,  C.,  2 ;  V.,  i.  4,  17. 
Conquer  the  Athenians,  and  set  the 
thirty  tyrants  over  them,  C.,  51. 

Laeca,  Marcus  Portius,  C.,  27. 

Lffilius,  orator,  V.,  i.  17  ;  ii.  9. 

Lancia,  Fl.,  iv.  12. 

Langobardians,  V.,  ii.  106. 

Laodicea  taken,  V.,  ii.  69. 

Lares,  town  of,  J.,  90. 

Latins,  their  wars  with  the  Romans. 
Fl.,i.  11,14. 

Laurel  growing  up  in  a  ship,  Fl.,  ii. 
7. 

Laurentian  marshes,  V.,  ii.  19. 

Laws,  Agrarian,  ii.  2,  6.  Roscian,  V., 
ii.  32.  Manilian,V.,  ii.  33. 

Lentulus,  Publius  L.  Sura,  C.,  17. 
His  operations  at  Rome,  C.,  39,  40. 
Gives  Vulturcius  a  letter  for  Cati- 
line, C.,  44.  Brought  before  tho 
Senate  by  Cicero,  C.,  46.  Com- 
mitted to  custody,  C.,  47.  His 
freedmen  seek  to  rescue  him,  C., 
50.  Put  to  death,  C.,  55 ;  Fl.,  iv. 
1 ;  V.,  ii.  34. 

Lepidus,  Marcus,  C.,  18. 

Lepidus,  Marcus  ^Emilias,  consul, 
his  speech  against  Sylla,  Fr.,  B.  i. 
Speech  of  Philippus  against  him, 
ib.  His  insurrection,  FL,  iii.  23. 

Lepidus  the  Triumvir,  Fl.,  iv.  6. 
Proscribes  his  brother,  ib. ;  V.,  ii. 
67.  Left  to  guard  the  city,  Fl., 
iv.  7.  See  V.,  ii.  63,  64,  66,  67,  80, 
88. 

Lepidus,  his  son,  plots  against  Au- 
gustus, V.,  ii.  88. 

Leptis  Major,  J.,  77.  Faithful  to  th« 
Romans,  ib.  Its  origin,  J.,  78* 

Leptis  Minor,  J.,  19. 

Lesbos,  V.,  i.  2> 


INDEX. 


531 


Libyans,  and  Getulians,  original  in- 
habitants of  Africa,  J.,  18.  Sub- 
dued under  Augustus,  Fl.,  iv.  12. 

Lieinius,  Macer,  tribune,  his  speech 
to  the  people  on  the  tribunitial 
power,  Fr.,  JB.  iii. 

Ligurians,  their  war  with  the  Ro- 
mans, Fl.,  ii.  3. 

Livia,  daughter  of  Drusus,  her  flight, 
V.,  ii.  75.  Married  to  Augustus, 
V.,  ii.  79. 

Livy,  V.,  i.  17 ;  ii.  36. 

Lollius  defeated  in  Germany,  V.,  ii. 
97.  His  death,  V.,  ii.  102. 

Lucilia,  mother  of  Pompey,  V.,  ii. 
29.. 

Lucilius,  poet,  V..  ii.  9. 

Lucretius,  poet,  V.,  ii.  36. 

Lucullus  defeats  Mithridates  and  Ti- 
granes,  V.,  ii.  33.  Opposes  Pom- 
pey, V.,  ii.  40.  His  avarice  and 
luxury,  V.,  ii.  33.  His  triumph, 
V.,  ii.  34. 

Lucullus,  his  son,  falls  at  Philippi, 
V.,  ii.  71. 

Lucullus,  Publius,  a  tribune,  J.,  37. 

Lupercal,  V.,  i.  15;  ii.  56. 

Lupia,  river,  V.,  ii.  105. 

Lutatius,  Q.  Catulus,  aids  Marius  in 
defeating  the  Cimbri,  V.,  ii.  12. 
His  death,  V.,  ii.  22. 

Lycia  conquered  by  Brutus,  V.,  ii. 
69,  102. 

Lycurgus,  V.,  i.  6. 

Lydia  and  Lydus,  V.,  i.  1. 

Lysippus,  V.,  i.  1. 

Macedonia  gains  universal  empire, 
V.,  5.  6.  Made  a  Koman  province, 
V.,  ii.  38.  Overrun  by  barbarians, 
V.,  ii.  110. 

Macedonian  war,  C.,  51 ;  Fl.,  ii.  7. 
Second,  FL,  ii.  12.  Third,  ii.  14. 

Macedonicus,  V.,  ii.  74. 

Mad  Mountains  of  Sardinia,  Fl.,  ii.  6. 

Maecenas,  V.,  ii.  88. 

Mselius,  Fl.,  i.  26. 

Magius,  Celer  Velleianus,  the  author's 
brother,  V.,  ii.  115. 

Magius,  Minatius,  the  author's  ances- 
tor, V.,  ii.  16. 

Magius,  Decius,  ditto,  V.,  ii.  16. 

Mamilius  of  Tusculum,  FL,  i.  11. 

Miimilius  Limetanus,  a  tribune,  pro- 
poses a  law  for  investigating  Ju- 
gurtha's  affairs,  J.,  40.  It  is  passd, 
ib. 


Mancinus  besieges  Carthage.  FL,  ii. 
15.  Surrendered  to  the  Numan- 
tines,  FL,  ii.  17;  V.,  ii.  1. 

Manilius  Mancinus,  J.,  73. 

Manlius  Caius,  an  adherent  of  Cati- 
line, C.,  24,  27,  28,  30.  Sends  mes- 
sengers to  Quintus  Marcius  Rex, 
C.,  32,  33.  Commands  the  right 
wing  in  Catiline's  army,  C.,  59.  Is 
killed,  C.,  60. 

Manlius  Capitolinus  defends  the  Cap- 
itol, FL,  i.  1,  3.  His  death,  i.  26. 

Manlius  Torquatns,  FL,  i.  13. 

Manlius,  Aulus,  lieutenant-general  to 
Marius,  J.,  86,  90,  100,  102. 

Manlius,  Marcus,  J.,  114. 

Manlius  Torquatus,  Titus,  puts  his 
own  son  to  death,  C.,  52. 

Marcellus  opposes  Hannibal,  FL,  ii. 
6.  Makes  Sicily  a  province,  V.,  ii. 
88. 

Marcellus,  nephew  of  Augustus,  V., 
ii.  93. 

Marcius  Philippus,  FL,  ii.  12. 

Marcius  Rex,  Qtiintus,  C.,  30.  His 
answer  to  the  deputies  from  Man- 
lius, C.,  34. 

Marcomanni,  V.,  ii.  108. 

Marica,  lake,  V.,  ii.  19. 

Marius,  Caius,  lieutenant-general  of 
Metellus,  J.,  46.  Joins  Metellus  at 
Zama,  J.,  57.  Supports  him,  J., 
58j  60.  Elated  by  omens  in  sacra- 
ficmg,  J.,  63.  A  native  of  Arpi- 
num,  ib.  His  youth  and  character, 
ib.  Resolves  on  standing  for  the 
consulship,  J.,  64.  Resents  the 
haughtiness  of  Metellus,  id.  His 
boasts,  ib.  Works  upon  Gauda, 
J.,  65.  Goes  to  Rome,  and  is 
chosen  consul,  J.,  73.  Is  appointed 
to  conduct  the  war  in  Numidia,  J., 
73,  82.  His  hostility  to  the  nobles, 
J.,  84.  His  speeeh  to  the  people, 
J.,  85.  Enlists  the  lowest  of  the 
people,  J.,  86.  Assumes  the  com- 
mand in  Numidia,  ib.  His  pro- 
ceedings, J.,  87.  Surprises  Ju- 
gurtlia,  J.,  88.  Determines  to  be- 
siege Capsa,  J.,  89.  Takes  it,  J., 
91.  Takes  a  strong  fort  on  the 
river  Mulucha,  J.,  92-94.  Attacked 
by  Jugurtha  and  Eocchus,  but 
routs  them,  J.,  97-99.  His  caution, 
J.,  100.  Routs  the  two  kings 
again,  J.,  101.  Receives  Jugur- 
tha prisoner  from  Sylla,  J.,  113. 


532 


INDEX. 


Elected  consul  again,  and  tri- 
umphs, J.,  114.  See  FL,  iii.  1. 
Defeats  the  Cimbri  and  Teutones, 
Fl.,  iii.  3.  Civil  war  with  Sylla, 
FL,  iii.  21.  See  V.,  ii.  11,  13,  lo, 
19,  20,  23. 

Marina  the  younger,  FL,  iii.  21 ;  V., 
ii.  20,  27. 

Marina,  Caius,  his  eagle,  C.,  59. 

Maroboduus,  V.,  ii.  108,  109. 

Mars,  temple  of.  V.,  ii.  100. 

Marseilles,  FL,  iv.  2;  V.,  ii.  15,  50. 

Masinissa,  king  of  Numidia,  his 
services  to  the  Romans,  J.,  5.  His 
friendship  for  them,  ib. ;  FL,  iii.  1. 

Massiva,  grandson  of  Masinissa.  J., 
85.  Murdered  by  Jugurtha's 
agents,  ib. ;  Fl.,  iii.  1. 

Mastanabal,  father  of  Jugurtha,  J.,  5. 

Mauretanin,  J.,  19. 

Maximus,  Quintus,  J.,  4. 

Medes,  J.,  18.  Name  said  to  be  cor- 
rupted into  Moors,  ib.  Universal 
empire  of,  V.,  i.  6. 

Medon,  Archon,  V.,  i.  2. 

Memmius.  Caius,  a  tribune  of  the 
people,  hostile  to  Jugurtha,  J.,  27. 
His  speech  to  the  people,  J.,  31. 
His  address  to  the  people,  and  to 
Jugurtha,  J.,  33. 

Menander,  V.,  i.  10. 

Menenius  Agrippa,  FL,  i.  23. 

Merula,  flamen  of  Jupiter,  V.,  20,  22. 

Messala  Corvinus  saved  by  Octavius, 
V.,  ii.  70. 

Messana,  FL,  ii.  2. 

Metapontum,  V.,  i.  1. 

Metellus  Celer,  Quintus,  C.,  30,  42. 
Cuts  off  Catiline's  retreat  into  Gaul, 
C.,  57. 

Metellus,  Balearicus,  FL,  iii.  8. 

Metellus  Creticus,  Quintus,  C.,  30. 
Subdues  Crete,  FL,  iii.  7.  His  tri- 
umph, FL,  iv.  2. 

Metellus  Numidicus,  Quintus,  elect- 
ed consul,  J.,  43.  Has  Numidia 
for  his  province,  ib.  Receives  the 
command  of  the  army  from  Albi- 
nns,  J.,  44.  His  judicious  reforma- 
tion of  it.  J.,  44,  45.  His  activity, 
J.,  46.  Retorts  upon  Jugurtha  his 
own  artifices,  J.,  46,  48.  Repulses 
Jugurtha,  after  a  hard  contest,  J., 
50-53.  His  further  operations,  J., 
54.  His  success  causes  great  joy 
at  Rome,  J.,  55.  Besieges  Zamu, 
J.,  56-60.  Raises  the  siege,  J.,  Gl. 


"Works  upon  Bomilcar,  J.,  61.  Re- 
ceives oilers  of  surrender  from  Ju- 
gurtha, J.,  62.  Offended  at  Ma- 
rius's  ambition  for  the  consulship, 
J.,  64.  Takes  Thala,  J.,  75,  70. 
His  feelings  on  hearing  thatMarius 
was  to  succeed  him,  J.,  82,  83. 
Tampers  with  Bocchus,  J.,  83. 
His  return  to  Rome,  and  recep- 
tion there,  J.,  88.  See  FL,  iii.  1 ; 
V.,  ii.  11,  15.  Was  an  orator,  V., 
ii.  9. 

Metellus  Pius,  son  of  Numidicns,  his 
reception  and  conduct  in  Spain, 
Fr.,B.  ii.  Engaged  in  the  Italian 
war,  V.,  ii.  15.  Defeats  Sylla'a 
enemies  at  Faveutia,  V.,  ii.  28. 

Metius  Fufetius,  FL,  i.  3. 

Micipsa,  son  of  Masinissa,  J.,  5.  His 
fear  of  Jugurtha,  J.,  6,  7.  En- 
deavors to  win  him  by  kindness, 
and  adopts  him,  J.,  9.  His  dying 
address  to  Jugurtha,  J.,  10  ;  FL, 
iii.  1. 

Miletus  colonized,  V.,  i.  4. 

Milo  kills  Clodius,  V.,  ii.  47.  Is  killed 
at  Compsa,  V.,  ii.  68. 

Milvian  Bridge,  Allobroges  arrested 
on,  C.,  45. 

Mind,  observations  on;  J.,  1,  2. 

Minturna;,  V.,  i.  14;  ii.  19. 

Mitliridatcs,  his  letters  to  Arsaees. 
Fr.,  B.  iv.  War  between  him  and 
the  Romans,  FL,  iii.  5.  His  death, 
ib.  See  V.,  ii.  18,  37,  40. 

Mitylcne,  V.,  i.  4.  Its  treachery,  V., 
ii.  18,  53. 

Morini,  FL,  iii.  10. 

Mucius,  Scaevola,  FL,  5.  10. 

Mucius,  a  lawyer.  V.,  ii.  9. 

Mnlucha,  city,  FL,  iii.  1. 

Mulucha,  river,  J.,  19.  Divided  the 
kingdoms  of  Jugurtha  and  Boc- 
chus, J.,  92. 

Mummius  destroys  Corinth,  FL,  ii. 
10  ;  V.,  i.  12,  13.  A  new  man,  V., 
ii.  128. 

Munda,  battle  of,  FL,  iv.  2. 

Muraena,  Caius,  C.,  42. 

Muraina,  L.,  conspires  against  Au- 
gustus, V.,  ii.  91. 

Mural  crown,  V.,  i.  12. 

Muthul  river,  J.,  48. 

Mutina,  battle  of,  FL,  iv.  4. 

Mutina,  V.,  ii.  61. 

Mysians  subdued  by  Augustus,  FL, 
'iv.  12. 


INDEX. 


Nabdalsa  leagues  against  Jugurtha, 

J.,  70.    Discovered,  J.,  71. 
Narbo  Marcins,  V.,  i.  15  ;  ii.  8. 
Neapolis,  V.,  i.  4.  Its  games  in  honor 

of  Augustus,  V.,  ii.  123. 
Nero,   Tib.   Cl.,  father  of   Tiberius 

Csesar,  raises  commotions,  V.,  ii. 

75. 

Nero,  Tiberius.    See  Tiberius. 
Nestor,  V.,  i.  1. 
Nicomedes,  king  of   Bithynia,  Fr., 

B.  iv.  (Letter  of  Mithridates) ;  FL, 

iii.  5  ;  V.,  ii.  4,  39. 
Ninus,  V.,  i.  6. 
Nobility,  tyranny  of,  J.,  41. 
Nola,  V .,  i.  7. 

Nucerinus,  Publius  Sittius,  C..  21. 
Numa  Pompilius,   reign  of,  FL.   i. 

2,  8. 
Numantino  War,  J.,  7.    Destruction 

of  Numantia,  FL,  ii.  18. 
Numidians,  whence  their  name,  J., 

18.     Their  origin  and  progress,  ib. 

Numidia  made  a  province,  V.,  ii. 

39. 
Numitor,  FL,  i.  1. 

Oblivion,  river  of,  FL,  ii.  17. 

Obsidional  crown,  V.,  i.  12. 

Ocriculum,  FL,  i.  7. 

Octavia,  sister  of  Augustus,  wife  of 
Antony,  V.,  ii.  78. 

Octavius,  father  of  Augustus,  V.,  ii. 
59. 

Octavius.    See  Augustus  Caesar. 

Olympic  games  instituted,  V.,  i.  7. 

Opimian  wine,  V.,  ii.  7. 

Opimius,  Lucius,  chief  of  ten  com- 
missioners for  dividing  the  king- 
dom of  Numidia.  J.,  16.  Kills  C. 
Gracchus  and  Fulvius  Flaccus,  V., 
ii.  6. 

Ops,  her  temple,  V.;  ii.  60. 

Orestes,  V.,  i.  1.    His  sons,  V.,  i.  2. 

Orestilla,  Aurelia,  C.,  15,  35. 

Orodes,  king  of  Parthia,  cuts  off 
Crassns,  V.,  ii.  46,  91. 

Osci  corrupt  Cuma,  V.,  i.  4. 

Ostia,  FL,  i.  4;  V.,  ii.  94. 

Otho,  Eoscius,  his  law,  V.,  ii.  82. 

Ovid,  V.,  ii.  36. 

Pacorus,  the  Parthian  prince,  defeat- 
ed, FL,  iv.  9  ;  V.,  ii.  78. 

Pacuvius,  writer  of  tragedies,  V.,  ii. 
9. 

Palinurus,  prom.,  V.,  ii.  79. 


Pannonians,  subdued  by  Augustus, 

FL,  iv.  12 ;  V.,  ii.  39,  114.    Rebel, 

V.,  ii.  110. 
Pansa,  his  advice  to  Caesar,  V.,  ii.  57. 

His  death,  V.,  ii.  61. 
Parilia,  birthday  of  Kome,  V.,  i.  7. 
Parthia,  war  of  the  Romans  with,  FL, 

iii.  11. 
Parthians  conquer  Crassns,  FL,  iii. 

11.    Defeated  by  Ventidius,  FL, 

iv.  9.     Conquer  Antony,   iv.  11. 

Return  the  Roman  standards,  FL, 

iv.  12 ;  V.,  ii.  91.    See  V.,  ii.  46, 

100,  101. 

Parties,  political,  how  formed,  J.,  41. 
Patricians,  V.,  i.  8. 
Paulus  .jEmilius  subdues  Perses,  FL, 

ii.  12 ;  V.,  i.  9.    His  sons,  V.,  1. 10. 
Paulus  ^Emilius  slain  at  Cannae,  V., 

i.  9. 

Pedius,  consul,  his  law  against  Cae- 
sar's assassins,  V.,  ii.  69. 
Pelasgi  remove  to  Athens,  V.,  i.  3. 
Peloponnesians  build  Megara,  V.,  i. 

2. 
Pelops,  his  family  expelled  by  the 

Heraclidse,  V.,  i.  2. 
Penthilus,  son  of  Orestes,  V.,  i.  1. 
Perperna  conquers  Aristonicus,  V., 

ii.  4. 
Perperna  murders  Sertorius,  V.,  ii. 

30.  •  Conquered  by  Pompey,  Fl.r 

iii.  22. 
Perses,   king  of  Macedonia,  C.,  51, 

81 ;  Fr.,  B.  iv.  (Letter  of  Mithri- 
dates) ;  FL,  ii.  12 ;  V.,  i.  9,  11. 
Persians,  J.,  18.    Their  universal  em- 
pire, V.,  i.  6. 
Perusia,  siege  of,  FL,  iv.  5 ;  V.,  ii. 

74. 
Petreius,  Marcus,  commands  for  An- 

tonius  in  the  battle  with  Catiline, 

C.,  59. 
Petreius  and  Afranius  in  Spain,  FL, 

iv.  2.     Petreius's  death,  ib,     SM 

V.,  ii.  48,  50. 
Pharnaces  conquered  by  Caesar,  FL, 

iv.  2 ;  V.,  ii.  40. 
Pharsaua,  battle  of,  Fl.,  iv.  2  ;  V.,  ii. 

52. 
Philaeni,  Altars  of,  J.,  19.    Legend 

of  the  Philaeni,  J.,  79. 
Philemon,  writer  of  comedy,  V.,  i. 

16. 
Philip,  king  of  Macedonia  (Letter  ol 

Mithridates),  Fr.,  B.  iv.;   FL,  ii. 

7 ;  V.,  i.  6. 


534 


INDEX. 


Philip,  step-father  of  Augustus,  V., 
ii.  59,  60. 

Philippi,  battle  of,  Fl.,  iv.  7  ;  V.,  iL 
70. 

Philippus,  Lucius,  his  speech  against 
Lepidus,  Fr.,  B.  i. 

Phoeniciaus,  some  settled  in  Africa, 
J.,  19. 

Picenum,  C.,  57.  War  with  the  t>co- 
ple  of,  Fl..  i.  19 ;  V.,  ii.  29,  105. 

Pindar,  V.,  i.  17. 

Piraeus,  V.,  ii.  23. 

Pirates  subdued  by  Pompey,  Fl.,  iii. 
C  :  V.,  ii.  31.  Crucified  by  Cajsar, 
V.,  ii.  42. 

Piso,  Caius,  could  not  prevail  on  Ci- 
cero to  accuse  Ctesar,  C.,  49.  Why 
he  hated  Caesar,  ib. 

Piso,  Cnseus,  C..  18.  Sent  into  Spain, 
C.,  19.  His  death,  ib. 

Pistoriaj  C.,  57. 

Placentia,  V.,  i.  14. 

Plancus  joins  Antony,  V..  ii.  C3. 
Proscribes  his  brother,  V.,  ii.  67, 
74.  Flees  with  Fulvia,  V.,  ii.  76. 
His  desertion  to  Augustus,  and 
servility,  V.,  ii.  83. 

Plato,  V.,  i.  16. 

Plautian  Law,  C.,  31. 

Plautus,  Lucius,  accuses  Catiline, 
C.,  81. 

Pollio.    See  Asinius.  . 

Pompeius  Kufus,  Quintus,  C.,  30. 

Pompey,  first  consul  of  the  family, 
V.,  ii.  1. 

Pompey,  consul,  slain  by  the  troops 
of  Cn.  Pompey,  V.,  ii.  20. 

Pompey,  father  of  Pompey  the  Great, 
V.,  ii.  15.  His  conduct  and  death, 
V.,  ii.  21. 

Pompey,  Cuseus,  C.,  16,  17.  His  let- 
ter to  the  senate,  Fr.,  B.  iii.  Men- 
tioned in  the  speech  of  Licinius, 
Fr.,  B.  iii.  His  followers,  Ep.,  ii. 
2.  Takes  the  command  of  the 
Mithridatic  -war,  Fl.,  iii.  5.  His 
further  proceedings  in  the  East, 
and  at  Jerusalem,  M>.  Subdues  the 
pirates,  FL,  iii.  6.  Civil  war  with 
Caesar,  Fl.,  iv.  2.  His  theaters,  ib. 
His  death,  ib. ;  V.,  ii.  52,  53.  See 
V.,  ii.  29,  30,  32,  37,  49.  Marries 
Julia,  V.,  ii.  44. 

Pompey,  Cnaeus,  son  of  Pompey  the 
Great,  his  contests  with  Caesar,  Fl., 
iv.  2.  His  death,  ib. 

Pompey,  Sextus,  son  of  Pompey  the 


I      Great,  his  contests  with  Cassar,  Fl., 

iv.  2.     His  war  with  Octavius  and 

Antony,  and  death,  Fl.,  iv.  8.    See 

V.,  ii.  72,  77,  79. 
Pomtinus,  Caius.    See  Valerius  Flac- 

cus. 
Pontius,  the  Samnite  general,  Fl.,  i. 

16. 
Pontius  Telesinus,  V.,  ii.  27  ;  Fl.,  iii. 

18,  21. 
Pontus,  war  with,  Fl.,  iii.  5.    Made 

a  province.  V.,  ii.  38. 
Popedius,  Fl.,  iii.  18. 
Popilius  Laenas,  V.,  i.  10. 
Populace,  their  feelings,  C.,  37,  48. 
Porcian  Law,  C.,  51. 
Porcius,  Marcus  P.  Lseca,  C.,  17. 
Porsena,  his  war  with  the  Romans, 

Fl.,  i.  10. 
Porticos  of  Metellus  and  Seipio,  V., 

ii.  1. 
Posthumius,  Albinus,  severe  censor, 

V.,  i.  10. 

Posthumius,  dictator,  Fl.,  i.  11. 
Posthumius,  Lucius,  Ep.,  i.  9. 
Proscription,  invented  by  Sylla,  V., 

ii.  28 ;  Fl.,   iii.  21.     That  of  the 

triumvirate,  Fl.,  ii.  6  ;  V.,  ii.  66. 
Pseudo-Philippus,  FL,  ii.  14 ;  V.,  i. 

Ptolemy,  V.,  i.  10. 

Ptolemy,  Fr.,  B.  iv.  (Letter  of  Mith- 

ridates.) 
Ptolemy  causes  Pompey's  death,  FL, 

iv.  2 ;  V.j  ii.  45. 
Ptolemy,  king  of  Cyprus,  FL,  iii.  9 ; 

V.,  ii.  53. 
Punic  wars,  first,  FL,  ii.  1.    Second, 

ii.  6.     Third,  ii.  15. 
Punic  books  of  king  Hiempsal,  J., 

Pvrrhus,  his  war  with  the  Romans, 
FL,  i.  18.    See  V.,  i.  1, 15. 

Quinctius,  Lucius,  Fr.,  B.  iii.  (Speech 

of  Licinius). 
Quintilius  Varus,  killed  by  his  freed- 

man,  V.,  ii.  71. 
Quintilius  Varus,  son  of  the  former, 

killed  with  his  army  in  Germany, 

V.,  ii.  117-120. 
Quirmus,  name  of  Romulus,  FL,  i.  L 

Rabirius,  poet,  V.,  ii.  36. 
Raudian  plains,  V.,  ii.  12;  FL,  iii.  3. 
Regulus,  FL,  ii.  2 ;  V.,  ii.  38. 
.Remus,  FL,  i.  1.    His  death,  'ib. 


INDEX. 


535 


tory  of  Kome,  C.,  4.    Where  his 
large  history  commenced,  Tr.,  B. 
i.,  mif.     Did  not  write  the  Two 
Epistles  to  Caesar,  p.  233,  seq.  Kival 
of  Thucydides,  V.,  ii.  36. 
Salyi,  or  Salyes,  FL,  iii.  1 ;  V.,  i.  15. 
Samnites,  C.,  51.      Their  wars  with 
the  Romans,  FL.  i.  16,  17.    Made 
Eornan  citizens,  V..  i.  14. 
!  Sardanapalus  killed,  V.,  i.  6. 
Rhcemetalces,  king  of  Thrace,  V.,  ii.  i  Sardinia  conquered,  Fl.,  ii.  6  ;   V., 

112.  ii.  38. 

Rome,  founded  by  the  Trojans,  C.,    Sarmatians    subdued  by  Augustus, 
6;  V.,  i.  7.     Character  and  actions       FL,  iv.  12. 

of  its  early  inhabitants,  C.,  6-11.    Saturninus,   Fr.,   B.   i.    (Speech   of 
Commencement  of   licentiousness       Philippus) ;  V.,  ii.  12. 
among    the  soldiery,   C.,    11.     Its    Scffiva,  centurion,  his  valor,  FL,  iv.  2. 
condition  at  the  time  of  Catiline's  j  Scaurus,  ^Emilius,  his   character,  J., 


Rewards  offered  for  information 
about  the  conspiracy  of  Catiline, 
C.,  30. 

Rhffitians  subdued,  V.,  ii.  39,  95. 

Khea  Sylvia,  Fl.,  i.  1. 

Rhodes,  faithless  to  Rome  in  the 
Macedonian  war,  C.,  51 ;  V.,  i.  9. 
Act  with  zeal  against  Mithridates, 
V.,  ii.  18.  Taken  by  Cassius,  V., 


conspiracy,  C.,  36.  Romans  adopt- 
ed from  other  nations  whatever 
they  considered  eligible,  C.,  51 ; 
Fl.,  i.  5.  Causes  of  Rome's  great- 
ness, C.,  53.  When  most  power- 
ful, Fr.,  B.  i.  When  most  blame- 
less in  morals,  ib.  Cause  of  dis- 
sensions in  Rome,  Fr.,  B.  i.  Rea- 
sons why  Romans  made  war  on 


15.  One  of  an  embassy  to  Jugur- 
tha,  J.,  25.  Accompanies  the  con- 
Bui  Bestia  into  Numidia,  J.,  28. 
Bribed  by  Jugurtha,  J.,  29.  His 
influence  with  the  senate,  J.,  30. 
Appointed  one  of  three  commis- 
Bionefs  to  investigate  Jugurtha's 
affairs,  J.,  40;  Fl.,  iii.  1. 
Scaurus,  orator,  V.,  ii.  9. 


other  nations,  Fr.,   B.  iv.  (Letter   Scipio  Africanus,  Publius,  J.,  4.   Re- 

of  Mithridates).     Degeneracy  of       ceives  Masinissa  into  alliance  with 

the  common    people,    Ep.,    i.    5. 

How  Rome  likely  to  fall,  Ep.,  ii.  5. 

Rome's  greatness,  FL,  Pref.    Its 

infancy,  youth,  manhood,  and  old 

age,  %b.    Its  just  and  unjust  wars, 

FL,  ii.  19.     Its   gradual  corruption 

of  morals,  FL,  iii.  12. 


Romulus,  his  name  applied  to  Sylla, 

Fr.,  B.  i. 
Romulus,   son  of  Mars    and    Rhea 

Sylvia,  FL,   i.  1.     His  youth,  ib. 

Builds   Rome,  ib.    His  reign  and 

death,  ib.    His  efficiency,  FL,  i.  8. 
Rubicon,  V.,  ii.  49. 
Rutilius,  a  lieut.-gen.  of  Metellus, 

J.,  49,  86. 
Rutilius,  historian,  V.,  ii.  9. 

Sabines,  FL,  i.  1,  15.    Made  Roman 

citizens,  V .,  i.  14. 
Sacriportus,  V.,  ii.  26. 
Ssenius,  Lucius,  C.,  30. 
Saguntum,  FL,  ii.  6. 
Salendicus,  FL,  ii.  17. 
Sallentine  War,  FL,  i.  20. 
Sallust,    engaged   early  in    political 

affairs,  C..  3.    Determines  on  writ- 


Rome,  J.,  5.  Ilia  patronage  of 
Jugurtha  at  the  siege  of  Numan- 
tia,  J.,  7.  22.  His  advice  to  him, 
J.,  8.  His  letter  to  Micipsa,  J.,  9. 
He  destroys  Carthage,  FL,  ii.  15. 
Destroys  Numantia,  FL,  ii.  18. 
See  V.,  i.  12,  13  ;  ii.  4. 


Uliaiia,    V'.,    <J.        -L-TClGILUlllCD   VU    WJiL-        DOU1WUI 

ing  detached  portions  of  the  his- '      13-17. 


Scipio,  brother  of  Scipio  Africanus, 
subdues  Antiochus,  FL,  ii.  8. 

Scipio,  orator,  V.,  i.  17. 

Scipio  Nasica,  consul,  J.,  26  ;  V.,  ii. 
1. 

Scipio,  P.,  son  of  Africanus,  V.,  i.  10. 

Scipio  Asiaticus,  deserted  by  his 
troops,  V.,  ii.  25. 

Scipios,  Cnseus  and  Publius,  then- 
acts  in  Spain,  Fl.,  ii.  6, 17  ;  V.,  ii. 
38.  Are  slain,  V.,  ii.  90. 

Scipios,  Two,  sediles,  V.,  ii.  8. 

Scorda,  FL,  ii.  13. 

Scordisci,  FL,  iii.  4;  V.,  ii.  8,  39. 

Scribonia,  mother  of  Julia,  V.,  ii. 
100. 

Scyrrus,  Fr.,  B.  i. 

Scythians  send  embassadors  to  Au- 
gustus, FL,  iv.  12. 

Seditions  at  Rome,  FL,  i.  22-26 ;  iii. 


536 


INDEX. 


Seianus,  V.,  ii.  116,  127. 

Seleucia,  V..  ii.  46. 

Semiramis,  V.  i.  6. 

Sempronia,  her  character,  C.,  25. 
Her  connection  with  Deciinus  Bru- 
tus, C.,  40. 

Sempronius  Gracchus,  V.,  ii.  100. 

Senate,  might  be  augmented  in  num- 
bers, En.,  i.  11,  12. 

Sentius  Saturninus,  V.,  ii.  27,  92. 
His  character,  V.,  ii.  105,  109. 

Septirnius,  C.,  27. 

Seres  send  enibassadors  to  Augustus, 
Fl.,  iv.  12. 

Serpent  at  Bagrada.  Fl.,  ii.  2. 

Sertorius,  Fr.,  B.  in.  (Letter  of  Pom- 
pey).  The  war  with  him,  Fl.,  iii. 
22.  See  V.,  ii.  25,  30,  90. 

Servilia.  wife  of  Lepidus,  kills  her- 
self, V..  ii.  88. 

Servius  Tullius,  his  reign,  Fl.:  i.  6,  8. 

Sextise  Aquae,  V.,  i.  15  ;  Fl.,  iii.  3. 

Sicca,  town  of.  J.,  56.  Eevolts  from 
Jugurtha,  ib. 

Sicily,  FL,  ii.  2;  V.,  ii.  3k  Con- 
quered by  Marcellus,  FL,  ii.  6 ;  V., 
ii.  38.  Insurrection  of  slaves  in, 
FL,  iii.  19. 

Sidpnians  built  Leptis  Majorj  J.,  78. 

Sigimer,  German  prince,  V.,  ii.  118. 

Sifanus,  Marcus,  V.,  ii.  12,  77. 

Silo.    See  Popedius. 

Sisenna,  the  historian,  J.,  95  ;  V.,  ii. 
9. 

Slaves,  war  of  Eome  with,  FL,  iii. 
19. 

Smyrna  built.  V.,  i.  4. 

Socrates,  V.,  i.  16. 

Sophocles,  w. 

Sosius,  Antony's  admiral,  V.,  ii.  85. 

Spain,  war  in,  FL.  ii.  6,  17:  iv.  2; 
V.,  ii.  38.  Finally  reduced  under 
Augustus,  FL,  iv.  12 ;  V.,  ii.  90. 

Spartacus,  his  insurrection,  FL,  iii. 
20 ;  V.,  ii.  30. 

Spolia  Opima,  FL,  5. 1  ;  ii.  4. 

Spurius  Cassius,  FL,  i.  26. 

Statilius,  Lucius,  C.,  17.  Appointed 
to  fire  the  city,  C.,  43.  Charged 
before  the  senate,  and  committed 
to  custody,  C.,  46, 47.  Put  to  death, 
C.,  55. 

Statins  Murcus,  V.,  ii.  69,  72,  77. 

Snessa  Pomitia,  FL,  i.  7. 

Snlpicius,  orator,  V.,  ii.  9. 

Suthul,  town  of,  besieged  by  Aulus, 
J.,  37. 


Sylla,  Lucius,  C.,  6.  Began  well, 
but  ended  far  otherwise,  C.,  11. 
His  veterans,  C.,  16.  His  arrival 
in  Numidia  as  quaestor  to  Marius, 
J.,  95.  His  family  and  character, 
ib.  His  popularity  with  the  army, 
J.,  96.  Sent  by  Marius  to  Boc- 
chus,  J.,  102.  His  speech  to  Boc- 
chus,  ib.  Goes  again  to  Bocchus, 
J.,  105.  His  meeting  with  Volux, 
J.,  105-107.  Persuades  Bocchua 
to  betray  Jugurtha,  J.,  111.  Takes 
Jugurtha  prisoner,  J.,  114.  Speech 
of  Lepidus  against  him,  Fr.,  B.  i. 
Abridged  the  power  of  the  tri- 
bunes. Fr.,  B.  iii.  (Speech  of  Li- 
cinius).  Goes  against  Mithridates, 
FL,  iii.  5 ;  V.,  ii.  23,  24.  Civil  war 
with  Marius,  FL,  iii.  21 :  V.,  ii.  26 
27.  His  atrocities  and  proscrip- 
tion, ib.  ;  V.,  ii.  28.  See  V .,  ii.  17, 
19,  23,  24,  26,  28. 

Sylla,  Publius,  C.,  17. 

Sylla,  Servius,  ib. 

Syphax,  subdued  by  the  Komans, 
J.,  5. 

Syracuse,  FL,  ii.  6  ;  V.,  ii.  15,  38. 

Syria,  FL,  ii..8;  V.,  ii.  37,  38,  46. 

Syrtes,  J.,  19.    Described,  J.,  78. 

Tanaquil,  FL,  i.  6. 
Tarcondimotus,  FL,  iv.  2. 
Tarentines,  their  war  with  the  Bo- 

mans,  FL,  i.  18. 
Tarentum,  a  colony,  V.,  i.  15. 
Tarpeian  rock,  V.,  ii.  24. 
TarquiniuSj  Lucius,  accuses  Crassus 

of  leaguing  with  Catiline,  C.,  48. 

His  accusation  deemed  false  by  the 

senate,  ib. 
Tarquinius  Priscus,  his  reign,  Fl.,  i. 

5,  8. 
Tarquinius  Superbus,  his  reign,  FL, 

i.  7,  8. 

Tarrula,  Fr..  -B.  i. 
Tatius,  FL,  i.  1. 
Taurus,  general  of  Octavius,  V.,  ii. 

85. 

Telamon,  V.,  i.  1. 
Telesinus,  FL,  iii.  18,  21 ;  V.,  ii.  16, 

27. 

Tencteri,  FL,  iii.  10. 
Terence,  V.,  i.  17. 
Teucer  builds  Salamis  in  Cyprus,  V., 

i.  1. 

Teutobochus,  FL,  iii.  3. 
Teutones,  FL,  iii.  3  ;  V.,  ii.  8,  12. 


INDEX. 


537 


Thala,  city  of,  J.,  75.  Besieged  by 
Metellus,  ib.  Taken,  J.,  76  ;  FL, 
iii.  1. 

Thapsus,  battle  of,  FL,  iv.  2. 

Theophanes,  V.,  ii.  18. 

Therseans  founded  Cyrene,  J.,  19. 

Thessaly,  V.,  i.  3. 

Thirmida,  J.,  12. 

Thoas  the  JStolian,  FL,  ii.  8. 

Thracians,  war  of  the  liomans  with 
them,  Fl.,  iii.  4.  Subdued  by  Au- 
gustus, Fl.,  iv.  12  ;  V.,  ii.  98. 

Thurii,  V.,  ii.  68. 

Tiberius,  emperor.  His  character, 
V.,  ii.  94.  Marries  Julia,  96.  Tri- 
umphs over  the  Pannonians,  97. 
Kctirea  to  Ehodes,  ib.  Adopted 
by  Augustus,  103.  Subdues  Ger- 
many, 106.  Prepares  to  attack 
Maroboduus,  108.  Conquers  the 
Dalmatians,  117.  Made  equal  in 
rank  with  Augustus,  121.  Takes 
the  government,  124.  View  of  his 
administration,  126. 

Tiberius  Claudius  Nero,  V.,  ii.  75. 

Tiberius  Nero,  his  opinion  concern- 
ing the  conspirators,  C.,  50. 

Tibullus,  V.,  ii.  36. 

Ticinus,  battle  of,  Fl.,  ii.  6. 

Tigranes,  Letter  of  Mithridates,  Fr., 
B.  iv.  Defeated  by  Lucullus,  V., 
ii.  33.  Surrenders  to  Pompey,  V., 
ii.  37. 

Tigurini,  FL,  iii.  3. 

Tisidium,  J.,  62. 

Torquatus,  Lucius,  C.,  18. 

Trajan,  Fl.,  Pref. 

Trasimeue  Jake,  battle  of,  Fl.,  ii.  6. 

Trebia,  battle  of,  Fl.,  ii.  6. 

Trebonius,  a  conspirator  against  Cae- 
sar, V.,  ii.  56.  Slain,  69. 

Treviri,  FL,  iii.  10. 

Tribunitial  power,  seditious  nature 
of,  FL,  iii.  13. 

Triumvirate  of  Caesar,  Pompey,  and 
Crassus,  FL,  iv.  2 ;  V.,  ii.  44. 

Triumvirate  of  Augustus,  Antony, 
and  Lepidus,  FL,  iv.  6  ;  V.,  ii.  65. 

Trojans  founded  Rome,  C.,  6. 

Tullia,  FL,  i.  7. 

Tnllian  dungeon,  C.,  55. 

Tullus  Hostilius,  reign  of,  71.,  i.  3, 


Sj  Lucius,  C.,  18. 

Turpilms,  the  Eoman  governor  of 
Vacca,  J.,  67.  Put  to  death,  J., 
69. 

23* 


Tyrants,  Thirty,  at  Athens,  C.,  51. 
Tyrrheuus,  V.,  i.  1. 

Vacca,  or  Vaga,  J.,  29.  Metellus 
places  a  garrison  in  it,  J.,  47.  Re- 
volts from  the  Romans,  J.,  66. 
Recovered  by  Metellus,  J.,  69. 

Valerius  Antias,  V.,  ii.  9. 

Valerius  Flaccus,  Lucius,  employed 
in  arresting  the  Allobrogian  depu- 
ties, C.,  45. 

Valerius  Publicola,  FL,  i.  9. 

Vargunteius,  Lucius,  C.,  17,  28. 

Varro,  his  death  at  (Jamie,  FL,  ii.  6. 

Varro,  poet,  V.,  ii.  36. 

Varus,  river,  FL,  iii.  2. 

Varus  killed  in  Germany,  Fl.,  iv.  12 ; 
V.,  ii.  117,  118, 119. 

Vatinius,  V.,  ii.  69. 

Veientes,  FL,  i.  12. 

Velleius,  grandfather  of  the  author, 
V.,  ii.  6. 

Vellica,  FL,  iv.  12. 

Veneti,  FL,  iii.  10. 

Ventidins  defeats  the  Parthiaus,  FL, 
iv.  9  ;  V.,  ii.  65,  78. 

Vercingetprix,  FL,  iii.  10. 

Vettius  Picens,  Fr.,  B.  i. 

Vienne,  V.,  ii.  121. 

Villa  Publica,  En.,  ii.  4. 

Vindelicia,  V.,  ii.  39,  95. 

Vinicius,  Marcus,  V.,  i.  1, 13 ;  ii.  113, 
atque  alibi. 

Virgil,  prince  of  poets,  V.,  ii.  36. 

Virginius,  FL,  i.  24. 

Virfathus,  FL,  ii.  17 ;  V.,  ii.  1,  90. 

Viridomarus,  FL,  ii.  4. 

Visurgis,  V.,  ii.  105. 

Umbrenus  Publius,  his  transactions 
with  the  deputies  of  the  Allo- 
brpges,  C.,  40. 

Volsini,  war  of  the  Romans  with 
them,  FL,  i.  21. 

Volux,  son  of  Bocchus,  J.,  101, 105. 
His  meeting  with  Sylla,  J.,  106, 
107. 

Voting  by  ballot,  remarks  on,  Ep.,  i. 
11. 

Utica,  J.,  25,  63.     Built,  V..  i.  2. 

Vulso,  Manlius,  subdues  GaLlogrsecia, 
V*.,  ii.  39. 

Vulturcius,  Titus,  accompanies  the 


Allobrogian  deputies  on  their  de- 
parture from  Rome,  C.,  44.  Ar- 
rested, C.,  45.  Makes  a  full  con- 
fession, C.,  47.  Rewarded  by  the 
senate  for  his  testimony,  C.,  50. 


538 


INDEX. 


"Wealth  too  much  regarded,  C.,  12. 
Will  of  Csesar,  V..  if.  59. 
"Wills  made    amid    preparation    for 
battle,  V.,  ii.  5. 

Xanthippus,  Fl.,  ii.  2. 


Xerxes  in  a  toga,  V.,  ii.  33. 

Zama,  an  important  city,  besieged  by 
Metellus,  J.,  56.  Its  vigorous  de- 
fense, J.,  57,  60.  Metellus  raises 
the  Biege,  J.,  61 ;  FL,  iii.  1. 


THB    END. 


